Department for Transport

Railways and Roads: Freight

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment his Department has made of the impact of the freight bottleneck at (a) Bramley in Hampshire and (b) along the Basingstoke to Reading branch line.

Huw Merriman: A major upgrade to transport more freight by rail to and from Southampton Port unlocking more capacity at the country’s second busiest container port was completed last year. Network Rail are considering the challenges for freight on the corridor with infrastructure assessments taking place at Basingstoke which is a follow up piece of work to the joint Network Rail/National Highways Solent to Midlands study. The output of this work could inform a decision to initiate further schemes into the Rail Network Enhancements Pipeline (RNEP).

Railways: Japanese Knotweed

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the (a) prevalence of Japanese knotweed on (i) railway embankments and (ii) other railway land and (b) potential impact of such Japanese knotweed on nearby (A) homes and (B) businesses.

Huw Merriman: Routine vegetation inspections are carried out by Network Rail on the full rail lineside estate on a three to four year cycle. Any Japanese knotweed identified on the estate is recorded, including details of how far the knotweed is from the railway tracks and from the boundary fence onto neighbouring land. For recording purposes, the lineside estate is broken down into eighth of mile sections. Records are currently held on file for 87,000 sections of lineside estate, knotweed was present in 1.12% of those sections when last inspected. Network Rail has an established regime to deal with Japanese knotweed on the lineside estate, whether identified by a Network Rail inspection or reported by a neighbour or member of the public. Network Rail colleagues use the recorded information in line with its specific knotweed management guidance to prioritise locations for treatment and set up chemical treatment programmes that will run for three to five years or until the problem is controlled. Where knotweed is found on both sides of a boundary fence, processes are in place to enable Network Rail to work in collaboration with the neighbouring landowner to set up the most effective treatment for that location.

East Coast Main Line

Mr Nicholas Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking with Network Rail to reduce instances of overhead line issues on the East Coast Mainline.

Huw Merriman: We recognise that overhead line issues on the East Coast Main Line have a huge impact on passengers and freight operators. Network Rail has put in place a programme of work to replace overhead line components that have historically caused a high number of failures and are working with train operators to ensure their trains interact as sympathetically as possible with the infrastructure. Network Rail is also designing a series of specific upgrades for tunnels, where overhead line failures can be extremely disruptive, so that the infrastructure is as resilient as it possibly can be. Finally, Network Rail is working to improve the speed of its response when incidents do happen, making sure its teams get trains moving again as quickly as possible.

Driving Tests: Waiting Lists

Justin Tomlinson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the current average waiting time is for a driving test.

Mr Richard Holden: Car practical driving test waiting times are currently at 15.7 weeks (November average). As at 12 December, there were over 81,000 available car practical test slots to book within the 24-week booking window. Since April 2021, the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA) has created an extra 595,000 car practical driving tests appointments to help reduce waiting times. Actions already being taken by the DVSA include asking all those qualified to conduct tests but who do not do so as part of their current day job to return to conducting tests, conducting out of hours testing, and asking recently retired driving examiners to return. To help increase practical driving test availability, the DVSA is recruiting more than 300 driving examiners across Great Britain. The DVSA’s examiner recruitment campaigns continue to be successful but, like many employers, the DVSA is finding the job market extremely competitive. As it moves through each recruitment campaign, the DVSA will continually review and make changes and improvements to its recruitment and selection process, and training courses.

East Coast Main Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what estimate his Department has made of the forecasted return on investment for the (a) East Coast Upgrade and (b) East Coast Main Line fleet upgrades in each of the next five years.

Huw Merriman: Draft forecasts for the period from 2023 to 2028 have just been received from train operators and are being reviewed. The information on costs and revenues is commercially confidential.

East Coast Main Line: Timetables

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department’s intended date is for the introduction of the new East Coast Main Line timetable; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Merriman: The feedback received through the East Coast Main Line timetable consultation in 2021 has now been reviewed and work is continuing to develop a revised timetable for implementation, one that more closely aligns with stakeholder views, ensures passengers experience the benefits of the £1.2 billion invested in the East Coast upgrade and is appropriate to meet passenger demand. In order to address the concerns raised during the consultation, the major timetable change is now targeted for 2023.

West Coast Main Line: North Wales

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will make an assessment of the impact of the reduction in Avanti West Coast's service since summer 2022 on the economy of North Wales.

Huw Merriman: No assessment has been made of the specific impact but the Department recognises the importance of a high performing railway in contributing to growth and local economies. Avanti West Coast temporarily reduced its overall timetable to ensure a more stable and reliable service for passengers. It has now restored services to North Wales with five direct services between London and Holyhead per day, more than before the August timetable step-down. Crucially, this uplift in services is not dependent on driver rest day working.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether he has plans to restrict the customisation of motor vehicles to prevent excessive noise from (a) back firing and (b) other anti-social modifications.

Mr Richard Holden: The police already have powers to act if they suspect an exhaust has been altered to increase noise or if the machine is making excessive noise which could be avoided through reasonable driver care. To support enforcement efforts, the Department has commenced further research to understand if the latest ‘noise camera’ technology can be an effective tool for the police and local authorities that will enable more targeted and efficient enforcement.

Driving under Influence

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether she has made an assessment of potential conflicts of interests related to alcoholic beverage company Diageo’s sponsorship of the new THINK! drink drive campaign.

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to ensure there is no conflict of interest in the alcoholic beverage company Diageo’s sponsorship of the new THINK! drink drive campaign.

Mr Richard Holden: THINK! and Diageo have entered into a no-cost partnership to tackle drink driving over the festive period, following a successful partnership in winter 2021. THINK! assessed that there would be no conflict of interest in this partnership due to its no-cost and educational nature.

Motorways: Safety

Damien Moore: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what further steps his Department are taking to improve safety on all lane running smart motorways.

Mr Richard Holden: Overall, in terms of serious or fatal casualties, smart motorways are the safest roads on the Strategic Road Network. We want all drivers to feel safe and we have paused the rollout of smart motorways not already in construction while we collect more data. During the pause, we have committed £900m for safety improvements across the network including building more emergency areas.

Motorways

Sarah Champion: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what data his Department holds on response times for providing support to vehicles stranded in live lanes on smart motorways; and what policies his Department has on the (a) collection and (b) use of such data.

Mr Richard Holden: National Highways annual smart motorways safety publications include data about vehicles stopped in live lanes, which shows that a very small proportion of total journeys on any road result in live lane breakdowns. National Highways also monitor and manage the performance of traffic officer attendance times, where emergency areas are more than a mile apart, and stopped vehicle detection times where the system is in place. The Department meets regularly with National Highways to review operational data and will continue to consider this alongside the wider safety and economic data during the current pause on the roll-out of new smart motorways. As part of the stocktake action plan in 2020, National Highways committed to faster attendance by more traffic officer patrols where emergency areas are more than a mile apart, reducing the national average time it takes traffic officers to attend incidents from 17 to 10 minutes. In September 2022, National Highways successfully met its revised national target and averaged a response time of 9 minutes 49 seconds.

Electric Vehicles: Charging Points

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department plans to take legislative steps to allow devolved administrations to implement smart road charging schemes.

Mr Richard Holden: Responsibility for roads is devolved and decisions about road charging are for the devolved administrations to make. Councils in Scotland and Wales already have the legislative powers required to introduce road charging schemes.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent steps he has taken to progress the roadside noise camera trials; and what plans he has to extend the pilot to a wider rollout.

Mr Richard Holden: The Department is working at pace to understand if noise camera technology can be used to automatically detect excessively noisy vehicles. The current roadside trials commenced on 18 October and will be completed in early 2023. If the trials prove to be successful, noise cameras may be considered for wider rollout, should funding be available.

Shipping: Crew

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs on seafarer welfare and the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea.

Mr Richard Holden: The UK is fully committed to the welfare of all seafarers regardless of their nationality. The Secretary of State and the Foreign Secretary regularly meet to discuss a range of issues.

Shipping: Crew

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to strengthen minimum seafarer welfare standards in the Maritime Labour Convention.

Mr Richard Holden: The UK Government supports seafarers and champions the importance of seafarer welfare and protections at every opportunity. We work closely with international partners, industry and unions to enhance seafarer welfare standards including regular attendance and leadership at the International Labour Organisation, the oversight body of the Maritime Labour Convention.

Shipping: Crew

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent assessment he has made of the extent to which employers in the shipping industry may have reduced seafarer welfare standards in the shipping industry to the minimum standards in the Maritime Labour Convention since March 2020 to date.

Mr Richard Holden: We work closely with international partners including the International Labour Organisation, industry, and unions to monitor seafarer welfare standards through ongoing dialogue, and to collaborate in enhancing seafarer welfare standards. In July 2022, we published a report on seafarer suicide to support this work. This is in addition to our Nine-Point Plan for Seafarers, which will improve seafarer employment protections and welfare.

Members: Correspondence

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he plans to respond to correspondence of 29 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Stockport relating to Avanti West Coast rail services.

Huw Merriman: A response to this correspondence was sent on 19 December.

Motor Vehicles: Noise

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department is taking to support (a) local authorities and (b) the police on ensuring those bodies have the resources to enforce rules on vehicles which create excessive noise.

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on the potential merits of training local police forces to become vehicle examiners so that they could purchase decibel meters to enable enforcement against vehicles that create excessive noise.

Mr Richard Holden: It is for the Home Secretary to determine matters of police resourcing. To support enforcement efforts, the Department for Transport has commenced further research to understand if the latest 'noise camera' technology can be an effective tool for the police and local authorities that will enable more targeted and efficient enforcement.

Marine Environment Protection Committee

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, who the members were of the UK delegation to the 79th session of the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Mr Richard Holden: The UK’s delegation to the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO’s) Marine Environment Protection Committee 79th session is led by Katy Ware, the UK’s Permanent Representative to the IMO. She is support by 15 officials from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, 12 from the Department for Transport, four from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, two from HM Treasury and five external maritime consultants.

Marine Environment Protection Committee

Mike Kane: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, if he will set out the Government’s negotiating position ahead of the 79th session of the International Maritime Organisation’s Marine Environment Protection Committee.

Mr Richard Holden: The 79th session of the International Maritime Organisation's (IMO’s) Marine Environment Protection Committee runs from 12 to 16 December 2022. The UK’s position on the matters, such as Greenhouse Gas emissions and ballast water, that will be discussed during this session has been consulted on and agreed by Ministers. It would not be appropriate to set out the UK’s negotiation position while those discussions are taking place. The IMO will publish, on its website, a meeting summary after the session has concluded.

Department for Transport: Energy

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, which energy provider supplies energy to their Department; how much carbon dioxide was emitted by their Department in the latest period for which figures are available; whether the criteria their Department uses to select an energy supplier include how environmentally friendly that supplier is; and what recent steps their Department has taken to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from its energy use.

Jesse Norman: The Department for Transport (DfT) utilises the Crown Commercial Services (CCS) Supply of Energy and Ancillary Services framework contract, with electricity supplied by EDF Energy Limited and natural gas supplied by TotalEnergies Gas & Power Limited. In the 2021-22 financial year, the last fully reported annual data, DfT emitted 11,839 tCO2e (Tonnes of Carbon Dioxide equivalents) from its use of energy supplies. As the Department utilises the CCS energy framework we rely on CCS to choose the most environmentally friendly supplier that is able to deliver the requirements of the framework. To reduce Carbon Dioxide equivalent emissions from energy use, DfT has: Installed an Air Source Heat Pump at one site to replace an oil fired heating systemInstalled PV solar arrays to reduce grid electricity requirementsOptimised Building Management Systems to match current building use and to minimise energy use during out of hours periodsConducted a site-by-site baselining exercise to identify energy inefficient sites, to better inform estate strategies and to assist in planning for emission reductions and identify a trajectory towards Net Zero

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for July 2021, for which minister was a car service from Bayliss Executive Travel purchased for £675 on a car on 21 July 2021; and what journey was involved in that visit.

Jesse Norman: This service was for the Secretary of State, where a 32-seater coach was required for UK/French delegation to visit Eurotunnel and Dover. The journey was from Lydd to Folkstone and from Dover to Lydd.

Department for Transport: Carbon Emissions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, by what date he expects his Department to be carbon neutral in its day to day operations.

Jesse Norman: The Department is in the process of developing its strategy to achieve Net Zero strategy by 2050. Its own trajectory is currently based on that target, but there may well be scope to achieve day to day carbon neutrality before that date in some of its operations.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what his Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

Jesse Norman: The Department spent £529,615.48 in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

Department for Transport: Ministerial Boxes

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for July 2022, what the nature of the ministerial red box repairs were for which Eximedia UK Ltd. were paid £634.80 on 8 July 2022.

Jesse Norman: The cost relates to a jammed lock and attendant repairs.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, pursuant to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for July 2021, (a) for which ministers were car services from Network Executive Ltd. purchased for (i) £645 on 1 July 2021 and (iii) £567 on 15 July 2021, and (b) what were the journeys involved in each visit.

Jesse Norman: 1 July 2021 - Network Executive Ltd - £645.00 This visit covered a day in duration. Car service used by Baroness Vere as part of a Ministerial visit to Mason’s Coaches and then National Highways Regional Operations Centre.Route details: Kingston - Mason’s Coaches, Tring, Herts - National Highways Regional Ops Centre, South Mimms, Herts – Kingston. 15 July 2021 - Network Executive Ltd - £567.00 Car service used by Minister Rachel Maclean as part of a Ministerial visit to Goodwood. Route details: Portsmouth – Chichester – Worcester.

East Coast Main Line

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the (a) cost to the public purse of and (b) projected revenue from long-distance high speed rail services on the East Coast Main Line to and from (i) London King’s Cross, (ii) Leeds and (iii) Edinburgh in each year between 2023 and 2028.

Huw Merriman: Draft forecasts for the period from 2023 to 2028 have just been received from train operators and are being reviewed. The information on costs and revenues is commercially confidential.

Department for Transport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for November 2021, what items of wellbeing sports equipment were purchased from Argos Ltd on 1 November 2021; and for what purpose those items were purchased.

Jesse Norman: The Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) has a small wellbeing budget to support the mental, emotional and physical health of its staff. It used part of this budget to purchase a rowing machine to supplement equipment donated by staff.

Motor Vehicles: Safety

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace Regulation (EC) No 661/2009 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Jesse Norman: Many pieces of Retained EU Law give effect to international obligations, such as those set by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe’s World Forum for Harmonization of Vehicle Regulations. Whilst there will be opportunities to review and amend individual pieces of Retained EU Law, the Department will ensure that the UK’s regulatory landscape fully adheres to international obligations and standards.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Natural Gas: Hydrogen

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment his Department has made of the role of hydrogen blending in encouraging investment in the hydrogen sector.

Graham Stuart: The Government intends to reach a decision in 2023 on whether to allow blending of up to 20% hydrogen (by volume) into gas distribution networks. Blending may help to bring forward investment and support early growth of the hydrogen economy. BEIS recently considered the potential value of blending through a consultation on hydrogen transport and storage infrastructure business models and regulation and is currently reviewing the submitted responses. The Government is working with industry and regulators to assess the associated costs and risks of blending, which will need to be carefully managed if permitted.

Flexible Working: Conditions of Employment

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of increasing employee rights for flexible working on (a) absenteeism and (b) staff retention.

Kevin Hollinrake: As set out in the Flexible Working Post Implementation Review which was published in September 2021[1], research shows lower levels of absenteeism and higher levels of employer loyalty among those who have taken up a flexible working arrangement. However it remains difficult to isolate the specific impact of the role played by legislation. [1] https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2014/1398/pdfs/uksiod_20141398_en.pdf

Local Net Zero Forum

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when the first Ministerial meeting of the Local Net Zero Forum will take place.

Graham Stuart: A meeting between Ministers and local government leaders is expected to take place early in the new year.

Energy Bill Relief Scheme: Iron and Steel

Jessica Morden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if the Government will extend the Energy Bill Relief Scheme for the steel sector beyond March 2023.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: HM Treasury is currently conducting a review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme and evidence from the steel sector is included in that. However, the Government cannot confirm which sectors will receive further support after 31st March 2023 until the end of the review, which will report by the end of the year.

Recruitment: Flexible Working

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of requiring employers to list the available flexible working opportunities with every job advert.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government consulted on whether employers should be required to list the available flexible working opportunities in job adverts in 2019. Having reviewed consultation responses from a range of stakeholders and taken account of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Government decided not to take forward a legislative requirement. Instead we are giving employees the right to request flexible working from their first day of employment. This conclusion was set out in “Making Flexible Working the Default”, which was published in September 2021.

Cleaning Services

Kim Leadbeater: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what discussions he has had with the laundry business sector regarding the increases in cost of living and potential Government support for that sector; and what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on the stability of that sector and the ancillary support it provides to hospitals.

Kevin Hollinrake: We have not engaged directly with representatives from the laundry sector but continue to work with a range of business sectors including organisations representing small businesses facing increasing costs driven by global factors, including high energy and cost of living pressures. The Energy Bill Relief Scheme ensures that businesses are protected from excessively high energy bills over the winter period. My Rt. Hon. Friend Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer recently announced in his Autumn Statement that there will be an extended and increased business rates relief for retail and hospitality businesses worth almost £13.6 billion. This is the most generous in year business rates relief in over 30 years, outside of Covid-19 support.

Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to implement the (a) revised arrangements to the Paris Convention on Third Party Liability in the Field of Nuclear Energy and (b) the Brussels Convention supplementary to the Paris Convention.

Graham Stuart: The 2004 Protocols amending the Paris and Brussels Conventions came into force on 1st January 2022, following their ratification by the contracting parties at the end of 2021. The Nuclear Installations (Liability for Damage) Order 2016 implemented the amendments into the Nuclear Installations Act 1965. Discussions with the civil nuclear sector have informed the UK’s approach to implementing its liability regime. The key amendments in the 2004 Protocols are new categories of damage, increased operator liability, and an increased limitation period for claims for personal injury from 10-30 years after an incident.

Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of localised carbon capture at carbon-dioxide emitting facilities such as waste incineration and biogas plants for the UK's industrial requirements for carbon dioxide.

Graham Stuart: Since last autumn, the UK carbon dioxide (CO2) market’s resilience has improved, with additional imports and further domestic production. It is for the CO2 industry to ensure supplies to UK businesses and the Government is working with industry to encourage a diverse supply. The Government is aware of several new UK-based CO2 sources under development by industry, however, these will take time to realise and are commercially sensitive. Waste management carbon capture and storage (CCS) projects are eligible for support under the Industrial Carbon Capture business model, which is considered the best way to support their deployment, given the current barriers and the importance of CCS for decarbonising the sector.

Royal Mail: Rural Areas

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of a formal partnership between Royal Mail and other public services to help people isolated in communities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of partnering with Royal Mail to (a) help tackle wider civic challenges and (b) provide a service which supports people who are lonely or in need of regular contact for their own wellbeing.

Kevin Hollinrake: The Government recognises the important role postal workers play in supporting local communities. However, as a private business, it is for Royal Mail’s management to decide which initiatives it chooses to support. The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s business decisions.

Royal Mail

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent discussions he has had with representatives of Royal Mail on its future business strategy.

Kevin Hollinrake: Ministers and officials meet with Royal Mail regularly to discuss a range of issues in its role as the universal postal service provider. As a private business, Royal Mail’s strategic decisions are matters for its Board and shareholders. The Government does not have a role in Royal Mail’s business decisions.

Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps his Department is taking to encourage the installation of localised carbon capture and storage equipment at (a) waste incinerators and (b) other carbon-dioxide emitting plants.

Graham Stuart: The Government aims to capture and store 20-30 million tonnes of carbon dioxide per year by 2030, including from waste management and other industrial facilities. In August, the Government announced a 20-project shortlist to progress to the due diligence stage of the Track-1 Cluster Sequencing process. Support for projects will be delivered via new business models and the £1 billion Carbon Capture and Storage Infrastructure Fund.In addition, the £289 million Industrial Energy Transformation Fund (IETF) and the Scottish IETF can support sites to invest in decarbonisation technologies, including onsite carbon capture.

Alternative Fuel Payments

Simon Lightwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, when further details of the Alternative Fuel Payments scheme will be announced and when payments will be made to eligible households.

Graham Stuart: The vast majority of Alternative Fuel Payments eligible households in Great Britain will receive payment automatically via their electricity supplier with no need to take any action, and we anticipate this payment being made as soon as possible in the new year.

Energy Bills Rebate: District Heating

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure landlords and letting agents are passing on the Energy Bill Discount to tenants in properties with a heat network.

Graham Stuart: If a heat network customer has a domestic electricity meter, they should already be in receipt of the Energy Bills Support Scheme. On 1 November, Government regulations came into force requiring intermediaries, such as landlords, to pass on energy bill support through to end users, such as tenants. If a customer does not have a domestic electricity meter or a direct relationship with an electricity supplier, EBSS alternative Funding will provide a £400 support for energy bills. Eligibility, timescales and method of delivery will be announced shortly.

District Heating

Dr Alan Whitehead: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department is taking steps to ensure that the energy support provided by his Department to heat network customers after March 2023 will be bespoke to the needs of those people.

Graham Stuart: A HM Treasury-led review of the EBRS will determine support for non-domestic energy consumers beyond 31 March 2023. The government has published terms of reference for the review, with the findings to be published by 31 December 2022.

Alternative Fuel Payments: Sheltered Housing

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether people living in flats in sheltered accommodation and who are off the gas grid will be eligible for the Alternative Fuel Payment.

Graham Stuart: The Alternative Fuel Payment of £200 will provide support for those in properties using fuels such as heating oil, liquified petroleum gas, coal or biomass for heating. Households which are off the gas grid and which use alternative fuel as their main source of heating will be eligible.

Northern Ireland Office

Abortion: Northern Ireland

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, for what reason the Government has provided ring-fenced funding for abortion services in Northern Ireland.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The UK Government has a clear statutory duty under section 9 of the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation etc.) Act 2019 to ensure that the recommendations in the Report of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women (“the CEDAW Report”), are implemented in Northern Ireland. The Government’s strong preference has always been for the Northern Ireland Department of Health to take responsibility for providing and funding abortion services. Regrettably, the Department of Health failed to commission and fund abortion services in line with the framework set out in the Abortion (Northern Ireland) (No. 2) Regulations 2020, despite being under a statutory obligation to do so since July 2021. The UK Government was left with no option but to commission services and ensure that funding is available to enable Health and Social Care Trusts to recruit and train staff to support the development of high-quality and sustainable services. It remains the responsibility of the Northern Ireland Executive to fund abortion services in Northern Ireland. The UK Government will continue to ensure funding is made available until the Department of Health takes full responsibility for the provision of that funding.

Department of Health and Social Care

Department of Health and Social Care: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for May 2021, for what purpose a payment of £4,320 was made to Thanet District Council on 19 May 2021.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Surgical Mesh Implants

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to his Answer of 13 December to Question 103061 on Surgical Mesh Implants, if he will detail the (a) source and (b) method of collection of other data used in the audit which used the identified National Health Service cohort of patients and the longitudinal record; and whether the collection of that data involved (a) contacting or (b) attempting to contact every patient who had mesh implants in 2010.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Long Covid

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the number of cases of long covid potentially attributable to covid-19 vaccines; for what reason a diagnosis code for such a condition has not been established; and how many patients are being treated with such a condition.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cardiovascular Diseases: Mortality Rates

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment NHS England has made of the reasons for an increase in the level of excess cardiovascular deaths since 2019.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Medicine: Research

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to improve data management to help the carrying out of longitudinal studies on the impact of medical and surgical interventions.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ritalin

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the adequacy of the supply of Ritalin.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 90728 on Coronavirus: Vaccination, for what reason claims under the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme for serious adverse effects arising from myocarditis, pericarditis and myocardial infarction arising from covid-19 vaccines have been rejected on grounds of lack of a causal connection to covid-19 vaccines despite such conditions being referred to in patient information leaflets as having a link to covid-19 vaccines.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Sodium Valproate: Prescriptions

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the accuracy of the data available on patients who have been prescribed sodium valproate,; and if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of a register of patients who have been prescribed medicines with a known and significant risk.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Maternity Services: Physiotherapy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of pelvic physiotherapy in both ante natal care and post partum.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Community Diagnostic Centres

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has been made of the potential effectiveness of the 91 community diagnostic centres on improving (a) capacity in the diagnostic service and (b) patient outcomes.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Dental Services: Coventry

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of (a) adults and (b) children in (i) Coventry North East constituency and (ii) Coventry that (A) are not registered with an NHS dentist and (B) have been unable to access NHS dental treatment in each of the last two years; and what steps his Department is taking to improve access to NHS dentistry in these areas.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health: Disadvantaged

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his officials and Ministers have had with their counterparts in the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities on the duties placed on NHS bodies to reduce inequality.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunotherapy

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, for what reason the NHS will only fund many immunotherapy treatments for a maximum of two years; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Care Homes: Costs

Karin Smyth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is planning to publish independent assessment of the trials by selected local authorities of the fair funding approach to payment for provision of residential care; and if he will make statement.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tobacco: Regulation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 8th February 2021 to question 148892, if he will publish the findings of Public Health England’s investigation into possible breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Drugs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what powers NHS England has to hold homecare medicines services providers to account for (a) delayed deliveries, (b) delayed treatment initiation and (c) missed doses of medicines.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scarlet Fever: Antibiotics

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has had discussions with the Welsh Government on the availability of antibiotics for treating Scarlet Fever.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

General Practitioners

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many GPs there were in (a) Coventry, (b) the West Midlands and (c) England in each of the last ten years; and how many GP vacancies there were in those areas in the same period.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Surgery: Waiting Lists

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment, with the Elective Recovery Taskforce, on the potential impact of medical technology on steps being taken to reduce waiting for elective care; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Infant Foods

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the health consequences of the watering down of infant formula.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Cancer: Radiotherapy

Tim Farron: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2022 to Question 42282 on Cancer: Radiotherapy, what the timeline is for publication of the NHS England review into radiotherapy capacity.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will conduct a review of medications which qualify for exemption for payment by patients.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department of Health and Social Care: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to his Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500, for what purpose his Department paid Revolution Events Ltd (a) £4,672.80 on 22 December 2021 and (b) £5,752.80 from 19-26 September 2022.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Healthy Start Scheme

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of healthy start vouchers in the context of rising (a) food and (b) infant formula prices.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Respite Care

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help unpaid carers access respite care in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Health Professions: Yorkshire and the Humber

Sir Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) doctors and (b) nurses have been recruited by the NHS in Yorkshire in each of the last 5 years.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Osteoporosis

Bill Esterson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the recommendations of the APPG report into osteoporosis published in November 2022.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Surgery: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of cancelled operations in the City of Durham in the last 12 months.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Tobacco: Regulation

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the answer of 8th February 2021 to Question 148892, what steps his Department have taken as a result of Public Health England’s investigation into possible breaches of the prohibition of characterising flavours in tobacco products.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Drugs

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department last assessed the essential medicines buffer stock to ensure it has the (a) appropriate products and (b) adequate volume of those products.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Immunotherapy

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will allow immunotherapy to be funded indefinitely where it is found to have a beneficial effect on patients; and if he will make a statement.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Streptococcus: Drugs

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any of the medicines used to treat symptoms of Strep A are stocked in the essential medicines buffer stock; and what plans he has to release medicines from that stock to support the treatment of Strep A.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when his Department plans to respond to email correspondence dated 23 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton.

Helen Whately: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Streptococcus: Antibiotics

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has received any notifications from suppliers of antibiotics used to treat Strep A of any supply issues, as per their legislative requirements.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

PPE Medpro

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the Government began its mediation process with PPE Medpro Ltd.

Will Quince: The Department entered mediation with PPE Medpro in September 2021. We continue to monitor the progress of settlement discussions and we will issue formal proceedings should it be necessary.

Tobacco: Sales

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Office for Health Improvement and Disparities has made an assessment of the level of compliance with the ban on the sale of cigarettes with a characterising flavour, including menthol.

Neil O'Brien: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Drugs: Prices

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has had to adjust concession prices for any medicines in the last month.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Drugs and Medical Equipment

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has issued any serious shortage protocols for any products in the last month.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Drugs

Emma Hardy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the quality assurance and governance processes set out in contracts for homecare medicines service in England include as key performance indicators for monthly performance assessment the number of (a) delayed deliveries, (b) delayed treatment initiations and (c) missed doses.

Will Quince: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Coronavirus: Vaccination

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the oral contribution by the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Health and Social Care on 13 December 2022, Official Report column 1092, what steps he is taking to monitor possible side effects from Covid-19 vaccines; whether he has commissioned further research to facilitate better understanding of how to diagnose and treat those who have suffered ill-effects from a Covid-19 vaccine; and when he plans the outcome of that research will be published.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Dyslexia: Health Services

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help support adults who were diagnosed with dyslexia after they had left school.

Maria Caulfield: The Department of Health and Social Care has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

NHS: Strikes

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he has held discussions about contingency planning for the potential impact of wider NHS strikes.

Will Quince: We have held discussions on contingency planning for industrial action in the National Health Service.

Cannabis: Medical Treatments

Ian Paisley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to encourage manufacturers of cannabis-based medicinal products to (a) conduct clinical trials and (b) pursue regulatory approval for their products.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) has issued two calls for research proposals and a highlight notice on medicinal cannabis. Manufacturers are responsible for generating evidence to support the use of these products and to seek regulatory approval. The Government has encouraged manufacturers to do so and offered scientific and research advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency and the NIHR.

NHS: Pay

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer about funding NHS staff pay.

Will Quince: My Rt hon. Friend, the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of issues relating to health services, including National Health Service pay.

Prozac

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the availability of Fluoxetine in each region.

Will Quince: There is currently a Serious Shortage Protocol in place for fluoxetine 10 milligram tablets, which allows pharmacists to supply a specified alternative fluoxetine product. All other fluoxetine products remain available.

Elective Recovery Taskforce

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to publish (a) key performance indicators, (b) a strategy and (c) a timeline for achieving key targets of the Elective Recovery Taskforce announced on 7 December 2022.

Will Quince: The Taskforce will meet regularly to inform our understanding of challenges in the system and potential solutions to ensure that all available capacity is used to reduce waiting times for patients. This will be supported by research and analysis to develop recommendations and an implementation plan in early 2023.

NHS: Staff

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps in addition to those set out in Agenda for Change he is taking to help improve NHS staff morale.

Will Quince: The ‘2022/23 priorities and operational planning guidance’ prioritises the safety, health and wellbeing of National Health Service staff. Measures to support staff health and wellbeing are kept under review, in addition to addressing equality and diversity, workplace culture, leadership and flexible working.

NHS: Staff

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December to Question 95818, which (a) patient organisations and (b) other relevant stakeholders his Department has consulted on the NHS workforce plan.

Will Quince: NHS England has engaged with a range of stakeholders during the development of the long term workforce plan. Independent think tanks have tested and refined the plan’s methodology and NHS England has consulted with stakeholders including medical Royal Colleges, trade unions, regulators, system leaders, third sector organisations and representatives from the workforce. NHS England is continuing this engagement prior to finalising the plan.

NHS: ICT

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) operations, (b) appointments and (c) treatments have been (i) postponed and (ii) cancelled as a result of IT failures within the NHS in each of the last 3 years.

Will Quince: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Drugs: Animal Products

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps towards mandatory labelling of animal-derived ingredients in medicines in the context of patients with specific dietary needs.

Christina Rees: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact animal-based products in medications have on the treatment options for (a) vegetarians and (b) vegans; and if he will take steps to require the switching from animal to plant-based alternatives to non-active ingredients within medicines wherever viable on new products.

Will Quince: The requirements for the information which must appear on medicines labelling is set out in Part 13 of the Human Medicines Regulations 2012. The primary purpose of the label is to unambiguously identify the medicine and to convey warnings in relation to safe and effective use of the product. There is no legal requirement for a pharmaceutical manufacturer to state whether a particular medicine contains animal-derived ingredients, as this does not convey warnings on the safety of the medicine. However, the legislation allows for the inclusion of a statement such as ‘suitable for vegetarians/vegans’ where a company can provide evidence to demonstrate that no products of animal origin have been used in the manufacture of the ingredients or the medicine. Where a company proposes to include such a statement on the labelling or in the patient information leaflet, the Medicines and Healthcare products regulatory Agency will evaluate the evidence to determine the validity. Medicines are developed to treat or prevent particular medical conditions or symptoms and are licensed on the basis of quality, safety and efficacy. Although there are many medicines free from animal derived materials, no animal-free treatment options exist as the active ingredient cannot be made synthetically or animal derived materials are necessary for the formulation or manufacture of the product. As technology advances, we expect that more non-animal materials will become available.

Alcoholic Drinks: Death

Carla Lockhart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps the Government is taking to reduce the number of alcohol-related deaths per year.

Neil O'Brien: We are providing new funding for local government to improve drug and alcohol misuse treatment and recovery services in England and increasing the availability of inpatient detoxification beds. We are also investing £27 million to establish alcohol care teams in the 25% of hospitals in England with the greatest need.

Obesity: Children

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to reduce levels of childhood obesity.

Neil O'Brien: New Regulations on out of home calorie labelling for food sold in large businesses, including restaurants, cafes and takeaways, came into force in April 2022. Restrictions on the promotion by location of products high in fat, salt or sugar came into force on 1 October 2022. We are also working with the food industry to ensure it is easier for the public to make healthier choices and make further progress on reformulation.

Blood: Donors

Caroline Nokes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has mechanisms which allow blood bank supplies from non-covid-19-vaccinated donors available to non-covid-19-vaccinated patients who stipulate that preference.

Neil O'Brien: Blood bank supplies are not identified based on the donor’s COVID-19 vaccination status. The Joint United Kingdom Blood Transfusion and Tissue Transplantation Services Professional Advisory Committee (JPAC) provides guidelines for the blood transfusion services in the UK. In July 2021, JPAC published a position statement, which was updated in November 2022, stating that blood services cannot provide information on the COVID-19 vaccine status of donors to recipients and it is not necessary from a safety or efficacy perspective. This is based on advice from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency that no additional blood and plasma safety measures are recommended in relation to the occurrence of suspected adverse reactions to COVID-19 vaccines. Individuals vaccinated with COVID-19 vaccines may be accepted as donors, provided they feel well.

Sickle Cell Diseases

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of increasing funding and staffing levels for Sickle Cell services .

Neil O'Brien: No specific assessment has been made.

Healthy Start Scheme: Migrants

Gareth Thomas: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the consultation on the extension of Healthy Start eligibility to families with No Recourse to Public Funds will take place; and if she will make a statement.

Neil O'Brien: We are currently considering options and further information will be available in due course.

Drugs: EU Law

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether he plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council.

Will Quince: Regulation (EC) No 726/2004 of the European Parliament and of the Council has already been revoked by Schedule 9 of SI 2019/775 insofar as it applied to medicinal products for human use.

NHS and Social Services: Sick Leave

Gareth Bacon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) NHS and (b) social care workers took sick leave due to a covid-19 infection in the latest period for which data is available.

Will Quince: This information is not held in the format requested. However, data on the number of staff absent due to any COVID-19 related reasons, including the need to self-isolate, is available. As of 30 November 2022, there were 6,865 National Health Service hospital trust staff in England reporting absences for COVID-19 related reasons. As of 14 November 2022, there were 2,128 of directly employed care home staff and 2,043 of domiciliary care home staff with face-to-face contact absent due to COVID-19 related reasons in England.

Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, what plans he has to (a) retain, (b) revoke or (c) replace the Tobacco and Related Products Regulations 2016.

Neil O'Brien: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 8 December 2022 to Question 105306.

St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust: Accident and Emergency Departments

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for patients attending the Accident and Emergency unit at St Helens and Knowsley Hospital NHS Trust in each month since October 2021.

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average waiting time was for patients attending the Accident and Emergency unit at Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust in each month since October 2021.

Will Quince: The following table shows the median total time in minutes in accident and emergency (A&E) at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust in each month since October 2021.MonthSt Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustWarrington and Halton Hospitals NHS TrustOctober 2021175216November 2021164183December 2021157184January 2022228178February 2022169202March 2022182197April 2022236210May 2022168214June 2022168193July 2022177212August 2022172201September 2022195211October 2022198210 Source: Provisional Accident and Emergency Quality Indicators for England, NHS Digital The following table shows the median time to treatment in minutes in A&E at St Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust and Warrington and Halton Hospitals NHS Trust in each month since October 2021.MonthSt Helens and Knowsley Teaching Hospitals NHS TrustWarrington and Halton Hospitals NHS TrustOctober 2021105123November 20219194December 20217894January 202211491February 202294113March 2022117126April 2022119105May 2022100113June 202210598July 2022104111August 2022100104September 2022115107October 2022119103 Source: Provisional Accident and Emergency Quality Indicators for England, NHS Digital

Hospitals: Air Conditioning

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department provided advice to hospitals on the purchase of air purifiers that use technology deemed safe by the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies.

Will Quince: NHS England is developing new guidance in relation to the use of ultraviolet air cleaners in the National Health Service which will be consistent with all relevant guidance and standards.

General Practitioners: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of GP appointments in the City of Durham conducted face-to-face in the last 12 months; and what that figure was in 2013.

Neil O'Brien: This information is not collected in the format requested.

Dental Services: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help improve access to NHS dental services in the City of Durham.

Neil O'Brien: In September, we announced ‘Our plan for patients’, which outlines how we will meet oral health needs and increase access to dental care, including in the City of Durham. On 25 November 2022, the Department introduced legislation to amend the National Health Service dental contract to incentivise dentists to deliver care to high needs patients through fairer remuneration. The legislation requires NHS dentists to update their NHS.UK profiles more frequently to ensure patients can access accurate information on the services available. The Department will enable NHS England’s commissioners to more flexibly commission additional care for patients where this can be delivered by NHS dental teams.

Maternity Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many maternal medicine networks have been established in England as of 9 December 2022.

Maria Caulfield: There are currently fourteen Maternal Medicine Networks in operation in England.

Maternity Services: Contraceptives

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps she is taking to improve the provision of contraception in maternity settings.

Maria Caulfield: We are committed to ensuring the public receive the best possible contraceptive services and are considering how to improve the provision of contraception in maternity settings as part of our broader work to improve sexual and reproductive health in England. We will set out our plans in due course.

Hormone Replacement Therapy

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment has he made of the adequacy of the availability of hormone replacement therapy.

Maria Caulfield: There are over 70 hormone replacement therapy (HRT) products available in the United Kingdom and while most remain in good supply, a range of factors including an increase in demand has led to issues with a limited number of products. We have been working with suppliers, stakeholders and the National Health Service and the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency to maintain overall supply, including expediting resupply dates of the disrupted HRT products.Since Serious Shortage Protocols (SSPs) on specific HRT products were introduced to ensure even distribution and allow alternative products to be dispensed, supplies have now improved and recently, several SSPs have been removed. 17 SSP’s for HRT products have been issued since April 2022, and currently seven remain in place as the supply position of several products affected by short term supply issues, have resolved.

Pregnancy Loss Review

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish the final report of the Pregnancy Loss Review.

Maria Caulfield: The Pregnancy Loss Review will be published in due course.

Monkeypox: Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of the level of funding for monkeypox services in the NHS.

Maria Caulfield: The monkeypox response is funded mainly by local authority commissioners from their public health grant. As of 23 September 2022, the United Kingdom is at Level 2, transmission within a defined population group, with flat or negative growth. On 8 December UK Health Security Agency published its strategy for the eventual ambition of eliminating person-to-person transmission available at the following link:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/mpox-monkeypox-control-uk-strategy-2022-to-2023

Miscarriage: Bereavement Counselling

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he is taking steps to ensure that all (a) women and (b) partners have access to bereavement support following pregnancy loss.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has funded the Stillbirths and Neonatal Death charity (SANDs) to work with other baby loss charities and Royal Colleges to produce and support the deployment of a National Bereavement Care Pathway (NBCP). The pathway covers a range of circumstances of a baby loss including miscarriage, stillbirth, termination of pregnancy for medical reasons, neonatal death and Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). As of 1 April 2022, 99 NHS England Trusts have committed to adopting the nine NBCP standards. As part of the NHS Long Term Plan, we are looking to improve the access and quality of perinatal mental health care for mothers and their partners. Mental health services around England are also being expanded to include new mental health “hubs” for new, expectant or bereaved mothers. The 33 new maternal mental health services will provide psychological therapy, maternity services and reproductive health for women with mental health needs following trauma or loss related to their maternity experience. These will be available across England by March 2024.

Abortion: Drugs

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he will take to ensure that all women and young people have access to the telemedical pathway for early medical abortion.

Maria Caulfield: In March 2022, Parliament voted to amend the Abortion Act 1967 to allow women in England and Wales to take one or both pills for early medical abortion at home. The Abortion Act does not set a legal age limit for access to early medical abortion via the telemedicine pathway. The Department continues to work with NHS England, the Care Quality Commission and abortion providers to ensure that children and young people have timely access to all abortion services, including telemedicine abortion services.

Health Services: Autism and Learning Disability

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many (a) autistic people and (b) people with learning disabilities were in long-term segregation on 6 December 2022.

Maria Caulfield: This information is not held in the format requested. However, as of 9 September 2022, there were 114 autistic people and those with a learning disability in long-term segregation in inpatient settings, using the Care Quality Commission’s definition.

Hormone Replacement Therapy: Prescriptions

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether HRT prepayment certificates will be available by April 2023.

Maria Caulfield: A pre-payment certificate for hormone replacement therapy (HRT) will be introduced from 1 April 2023. It will enable women to access as many National Health Service prescriptions for HRT medicines licensed for treatment of the menopause as required for an annual cost of two single item prescription charges.

Ambulance Services: Prisons

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of ambulance callouts to prisons to treat drug-related instances in each of the last three years.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of phone calls made from prisons to hospitals requesting ambulance assistance for drug related issues in each of the last three years.

Will Quince: No specific estimate has been made.

Endometriosis and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Steve McCabe: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has taken recent steps to help improve the (a) diagnosis and (b) treatment of (i) polycystic ovary syndrome and (ii) endometriosis.

Maria Caulfield: In 2022, we published the Women’s Health Strategy for England, which identified gynaecological conditions, including endometriosis and polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as a priority.We have allocated £2.3 billion to establish up to 160 community diagnostic centres (CDCs) by 2024/25 to reduce waiting times for diagnostic tests, such as ultrasound for those with suspected PCOS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is considering the development of a guideline on PCOS. NICE’s guidelines set out evidence-based recommendations, including on the diagnosis and management of conditions, to improve the quality of care. We expect healthcare professionals and commissioners to take these guidelines into account in the treatment of patients.We are also increasing activity through dedicated surgical hubs for planned procedures, focusing on providing high-volume low-complexity surgery, such as laparoscopies for suspected endometriosis. NICE recently conducted a surveillance review of its endometriosis guideline. On 3 November 2022, NICE confirmed that it will update the sections on diagnosing endometriosis, surgical management and surgical management, if fertility is a priority. NICE will also explore mental wellbeing and support for those with suspected or confirmed endometriosis during the scoping of the update. The expected publication date of the updated guideline will be available in due course. NHS England is also reviewing the service specification for severe endometriosis, including care pathways for thoracic endometriosis and expects to report on the outcome in 2023. This will ensure that specialist endometriosis services have access to the most recent evidence and advice and improve standards of care.

Miscarriage

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with representatives of Sands on the development of a pregnancy loss certificate since the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans for the pregnancy loss certificate to be made available.

Maria Caulfield: While there have been no specific discussions, we are working with NHS Business Services Authority to develop a timetable to launch the pregnancy loss certificate service.

Fertility: Medical Treatments

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Women’s Health Strategy published 30 August 2022, what progress his Department has made on removing non-clinical access criteria to fertility treatment.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Women's Health Strategy updated 30 August 2022, what progress his Department has made on  publishing national data on the provision and availability of IVF.

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when he plans to publish his Department's priorities for reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act.

Maria Caulfield: We will provide further information on the implementation of measures to address variations in access to National Health Service-funded fertility services shortly.

Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that all babies of women taking Valproate during pregnancy receive a thorough examination at birth by a geneticist for diagnosis of Fetal Valproate Spectrum Disorder.

Maria Caulfield: There is no simple test to diagnose fetal valproate syndrome. Where a patient has taken valproate during pregnancy and has concerns regarding their child’s health, advice should be sought from their general practitioner. The child may be referred to a specialist for an assessment. In December 2020, the ‘Guidance Document on Valproate Use in Women and Girls of Childbearing Years’ was published, which provides recommendations for healthcare professionals where there are concerns for children born to mothers who have taken valproate during pregnancy.

Prisoners: Drugs

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate he has made of the number of prisoners sent to hospital for drug-related issues in each of the last three years.

Maria Caulfield: No specific estimate has been made, as this data is not held in the format requested.

Health Services: International Cooperation

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2022 to Question 106425 on Health Services: International Cooperation, for what reason (a) Ministers in his Department have not met with the World Health Organisation Director General and (b) no one in his Department has met with the United Nations Secretary General to discuss global health reform after the covid-19 pandemic; and whether any such meetings with Ministers in his Department have been requested by the (i) World Health Organisation and (ii) United Nations.

Maria Caulfield: The Government has regular contact with the Director General of the World Health Organization (WHO), including through the United Kingdom Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva and the WHO Executive Board. The Departmental Ministers usually meet the Director General at the annual World Health Assembly and did so this year and will continue to do so in other fora. The Department of Health and Social Care works with the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office on issues related to global health and via its relationship with the United Nations General Secretary.

Autism and Learning Disability: Community Care

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if his Department will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring Integrated Care Boards to publish plans for meeting the commitments relating to community provision for (a) autistic people and (b) people with learning disabilities set out in the Building the Right Support Action Plan, published on 19 August 2022.

Maria Caulfield: There are no current plans to make an assessment. Each integrated care board implements a five year joint forward plan with partner trusts and Foundation Trusts. This will include the needs of the entire local population, including people with a learning disability and autistic people. The NHS Long Term Plan 2019 sets out our commitment to invest in intensive, crisis and forensic community support to support more people with a learning disability and autistic people to receive personalised care in the community, closer to home, and reduce preventable admissions to inpatient services. Every local health system will be expected to use some of this growing community health services investment to have a seven day specialist multidisciplinary service and crisis care. To support our approach of devolving power, the government has set up the Hewitt Review to consider the balance between integrated care system accountability, targets, and performance.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recourse NHS staff have in the event that a hospital's Freedom to Speak Up Guardian breaches staff confidentiality.

Maria Caulfield: Freedom to Speak Up Guardians are expected to abide by the principles described in the universal job description for Guardians, which emphasises the importance of preserving confidentiality. If a worker believes that their confidentiality has been breached by a Freedom to Speak Up Guardian, a complaint can be raised locally or via the National Guardian’s Office.

Respiratory System: Infectious Diseases

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make it his policy to ensure continued availability of rapid PCR testing to help control respiratory infections in winter 2022-23.

Maria Caulfield: Diagnostic testing by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) tests for respiratory viruses is currently used by National Health Service trusts based on clinical and infection prevention and control needs. All policies are reviewed to ensure they are appropriate and there are currently no plans to replace the PCR respiratory testing capability. The Living with COVID strategy published in February set out the roadmap to treating COVID-19 like other respiratory viruses such as flu. COVID-19 PCR testing remains available across NHS England in line with guidance, for example, where there is a need for a diagnostic test to inform treatment pathway. NHS Trusts make a choice on the appropriate balance of rapid and high-throughput PCR testing to best meet the needs of patients.

NHS: Disclosure of Information

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of requiring NHS Trusts to submit quarterly data returns to the Freedom to Speak Up Index.

Maria Caulfield: Following changes to the National Health Service annual staff survey, from which the Freedom to Speak Up Index was derived, the National Guardian’s Office no longer publishes the Freedom to Speak Up Index. However, the National Guardian’s Office receives quarterly data from its network of local Freedom to Speak Up Guardians. In addition, the National Guardian’s Office receive data through its case reviews and surveys.

Long Covid

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK have been diagnosed with Long Covid.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England promotes the use of diagnostic coding for post-COVID-19 syndrome. In primary care, this data is recorded and monitored via OpenSAFELY, which shows as of March 2022, 162,881 people had received a diagnostic code for the long term effects of COVID-19.

Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

Mr Ben Bradshaw: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many people in the UK have been diagnosed with severe Myalgic Encephalomyelitis, as defined in the NICE guidelines.

Helen Whately: The information requested is not held centrally.

Menopause: Employment

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent discussions he has had with (a) employer groups and (b) other stakeholders on (i) the Women's Health Strategy, (ii) supporting women going through the menopause and (iii) tackling workplace taboos and stigmas on menopause.

Maria Caulfield: Ministerial meetings are published on GOV.UK at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/ministerial-gifts-hospitality-overseas-travel-and-meetings#2022

Menopause: Employment

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with colleagues in the Department of Work and Pensions on workplace support during the menopause since the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy for England in August 2022.

Maria Caulfield: We are working across Government to improve workplace support to ensure that the menopause does not negatively impact women’s experiences at work and to support employers.

Independent Investigation Into East Kent Maternity Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the independent report commissioned by his Department entitled Maternity and neonatal services in East Kent: 'Reading the signals' published 19 October 2022, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of that report's findings; and if he will make a statement.

Maria Caulfield: The Department is reviewing the recommendations made in addition to existing work to improve maternity outcomes and will respond in full in due course. An independent working group chaired by the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has been established to guide implementation of actions arising from the Ockenden and East Kent reports.

Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust: Electroconvulsive Therapy

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will review Electroconvulsive Therapy within any inquiry into services within the Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust.

Maria Caulfield: On 22 November, NHS England announced an independent review into the incidents at the Edenfield Centre at Greater Manchester Mental Health NHS Foundation Trust this year. However, the use of electroconvulsive therapy is not currently in the scope of the independent review.

Maternity Services: Standards

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions he has had with relevant stakeholders on ensuring a (a) safe environment, (b) culture of mutual respect and (c) continuous learning and improvement in NHS maternity services.

Maria Caulfield: We will continue to work with all National Health Service trusts to ensure that safe and compassionate maternity services are provided. The Department and the NHS have established a working group chaired by the Royal College of Midwifery and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists to guide the implementation of recommendations to improve maternity services. The independent working group consists of stakeholders including the Royal Colleges of Paediatrics and Child Health and Anaesthetists, the Obstetric Anaesthetists Association and the British Association of Perinatal Medicine.NHS England has invested £127 million in NHS maternity workforce and to improve neonatal care. Of this, approximately £34 million will be invested in local maternity systems, in culture and leadership development programmes and in supporting staff retention

Maternity Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the continuity of carer model.

Maria Caulfield: There is no longer a national target date for services to deliver continuity of carer and services will be supported to develop local plans. Local midwifery and obstetric leaders are asked to focus on recruitment and retention of the workforce and to develop plans and to take account of local populations, staffing levels, more specialised models of care required by some women and current ways of working supporting the whole maternity team.

Health Services: Females

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 66 of the Women’s Health Strategy for England, published in August 2022, whether his Department is taking steps to encourage research on the impact of (a) menstruation and (b) gynaecological conditions on (i) educational outcomes and attainment, (ii) workforce participation and (iii) sickness absence rates.

Maria Caulfield: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR). Subject to receiving high quality applications, the NIHR expects to commission a new policy research unit dedicated to reproductive health. The unit will undertake research to inform policy in areas such as menstruation and gynaecological conditions. The impact of menstruation and gynaecological conditions on educational outcomes and attainment and on workforce participation and sickness absence has been highlighted as a potential research topic for this unit. Applications are currently being reviewed and the unit expected to operate from January 2024.The UK Menopause Taskforce has considered the evidence base and identified priorities for menopause research, such as the cost of menopause to individuals, employers, the public sector and economy. This will inform a menopause research prioritisation exercise commissioned by the NIHR. This exercise will also consider research recommendations from a range of experts, including the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence. The exercise began on 5 December 2022 and is expected to conclude in January 2023.

Miscarriage: Research

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 79 of the policy paper entitled Women's Health Strategy for England, CP 736, published on 30 August 2022, whether his Department has taken recent steps to support research on the causes of miscarriage.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds a policy research unit on maternal and neonatal health and care. The NIHR expects to recommission the policy research unit. Applications are currently being reviewed and it is expected that the unit will be operational from 2024. The NIHR also funds research in maternal and neonatal health focusing on the safety of services and the national maternity ambition to halve maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injury by 2025.

Maternity Services: Research

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to page 79 of the policy paper entitled Women's Health Strategy for England, CP 736, published on 30 August 2022, whether his Department has taken recent steps to support research on the efficacy of (a) continuity of carer in pregnancy and (b) other practice models.

Maria Caulfield: The National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR) funds a policy research unit on maternal and neonatal health and care. The NIHR funds a range of research on maternal and neonatal health focusing on the safety of services and the national maternity ambition to halve maternal deaths, stillbirths and neonatal deaths and brain injury by 2025. The NIHR expects to recommission the policy research unit to continue this work. Applications are being reviewed and it is expected that the unit will be operational from 2024.The NIHR has also funded research into care pathways in pregnancies occurring after stillbirth or neonatal death and evaluations of models of care, best practice and pathways for specific groups, such as those dependent on drugs and their infants and those with type 2 diabetes

Incontinence: Physiotherapy

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will make an assessment of the potential benefits of pelvic physiotherapy as a treatment for urinary stress incontinence.

Maria Caulfield: No specific assessment has been made. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing evidence based guidance for the National Health Service in line with its established methods and processes.In 2019, NICE published guideline, NG123, on the management of urinary incontinence and pelvic organ prolapse in women which recommends the non-surgical management of urinary incontinence, including, that women with stress or mixed urinary incontinence should be offered a trial of supervised pelvic floor muscle training of at least three months' duration as first-line treatment.

Menopause: Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether all women and girls experiencing early menopause are able to access specialised and personalised support including for (a) mental health, (b) fertility and (c) bone health.

Maria Caulfield: The NHS Menopause Improvement Programme aims to improve clinical menopause care in England via a new clinical pathway in primary care for women during perimenopause, menopause and post-menopause. This includes access to personalised care. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence’s (NICE) guidelines on menopause recommend that healthcare professionals consider referring women with early menopause to healthcare professionals with relevant experience to manage all aspects of physical and psychosocial health related to the condition. While NICE’s guidelines are not mandatory, we expect healthcare professionals to take this guidance into account in the treatment of patients.

Menopause: Health Education

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department has taken since the publication of the Women’s Health Strategy to ensure that girls and boys are educated about menopause from an early age.

Maria Caulfield: In 2020, compulsory Relationships, Sex and Health Education was introduced in all schools, which includes teaching on women’s health, including menopause.

Menopause: Health Services

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the NHS Menopause Pathway Improvement Programme, (a) when he expects the programme to conclude and (b) whether the Government plans to implement the programme's recommendations.

Maria Caulfield: NHS England aims to deliver the Programme’s objectives over three to five years. The Programme has launched phase one of its workplace support guidance in November 2022 and published a factsheet for the menopause via the Self Care Forum.

Lecanemab

Ian Lavery: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will take steps to (a) develop test infrastructure and (b) recruit testing staff to test patients for Alzheimer's disease to allow early diagnosis and treatment with Lecanemab.

Helen Whately: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is the independent body responsible for developing authoritative, evidence-based recommendations for the National Health Service on whether new medicines represent a clinically and cost-effective use of resources. NICE has been asked by the Department to conduct an appraisal of lecanemab for treating early Alzheimer’s disease. The appraisal is anticipated to begin in late August 2023.

Dental Services: Refugees

Julian Sturdy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to help Ukrainian refugees in the UK access dental care.

Maria Caulfield: Arrivals from Ukraine are guaranteed free access to National Health Service healthcare, including screening, vaccinations, mental health support, dental and hospital services. A welcome pack has been provided to all arrivals, which was translated into Ukrainian and Russian.

Polycystic Ovary Syndrome: Medical Treatments

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what discussions his Department has had with NICE on developing guidelines for polycystic ovary syndrome.

Will Quince: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) is considering the possible development of a guideline on polycystic ovary syndrome through the established process for identifying and prioritising guidelines that includes discussion with Department officials.

Life Expectancy: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of trends in the level of healthy life expectancy in the City of Durham.

Neil O'Brien: No specific assessment has been made.

NHS: City of Durham

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what (a) financial and (b) other steps his Department is taking to help tackle NHS workforce shortages in the City of Durham.

Will Quince: The Government has committed to publishing a workforce plan next year, which will include independently verified forecasts for the number of healthcare professionals required in future years, including in the City of Durham.

Community Diagnostic Centres: Endoscopy

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether any of the 19 community diagnostic centres announced on 7 December 2022 will provide endoscopy treatments; and if he will make a statement.

Will Quince: Two of the 19 community diagnostic centres will provide endoscopy services.

Department for Education

Department for Education: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for April 2022, what items of filming equipment were purchased from (a) SLRHut on 31 March, (b) Photospecialist on 31 March, (c) EssentialPhoto on 1 April, (d) Western Digital (UK) on 4 April, (e) Amazon Marketplace on 7 April, and (f) DJI on 26 April, and for what purpose is each item used by her Department.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for May 2022, (a) for what purpose does her Department’s Higher Education and Further Education directorate require the subscription to Riddle.Com purchased on 6 May 2022, and (b) how many of the quizzes produced using that website since 6 May 2022 have been targeted at (i) internal and (ii) external audiences.

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what her Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

Nick Gibb: The Department has spent £284,811.85 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a Government Procurement Card (GPC) from 1 April 2021 to 31 March 2022.Information on expenditure over £500 by the Department by Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/dfe-government-procurement-card-gpc-over-500.All Government Procurement Card (GPC) and electronic Purchasing Card Solution (ePCS) transactions are governed by a strictly applied policy. All transactions must be approved by the Card Holder and authorised by a nominated secondary member of staff. Some purchases and transactions are not allowed. This includes purchases that are not for official business purposes, prohibited purchases (such as alcohol and vouchers), purchases that could be made via an alternative, compliant purchasing route, and other transactions such as the withdrawal or transfer of cash.Information on spending over £500 by the Department on filming equipment with a GPC/ePCS is available in the attached table. These items were purchased by the central Policy Profession Unit, which is a cross Government unit serving approximately 32,000 civil servants in the Civil Service Policy Profession across the UK. These items contributed towards building communication capacity and to produce photos and filming for Policy Profession events, training, and communications. These items were purchased following a fully costed business case.Multiply, a new programme for improving adult numeracy, is funded through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. To engage potential students, the Department launched a quick mathematics quiz to help people understand where they might want to improve their numeracy. People are then signposted to relevant courses in their local area. The quiz function is provided by Riddle and can be found here: https://skillsforlife.campaign.gov.uk/courses/multiply/. Table of GPC expenses (xlsx, 27.3KB)

Overseas Students: Ukraine

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing financial support to Ukrainian nationals who are in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, are continuing to study remotely for qualifications at Ukrainian education institutions and who are unable to access either universal credit or UK student loans because they are students at institutions outside the UK.

Robert Halfon: It is important to maintain parity of treatment for all students in higher education (HE), whether they are a domestic student or an international student studying remotely with an oversees education provider.Student finance is available only for eligible students studying a course provided predominantly in the UK by a UK HE provider. In England, domestic students studying via distance learning are, in general, not eligible to receive student loans to cover maintenance costs. This is also the case for Ukrainian students in England, who are studying via distance learning.To support those who are granted leave under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and have enrolled at UK universities, we have extended access to HE student support, home fee status, tuition fee caps, advanced learner loans and 19+ funding allocations. This ensures Ukrainians who have been affected by the war in Ukraine can access support on the same basis as those within other protection-based categories, such as refugees.The government remains committed to supporting universities in Ukraine who are striving to maintain the education of their students under extremely challenging conditions. This includes through the provision of online distance learning for students enrolled at Ukrainian universities who now live in another country, including in the UK. This also includes those studying through the UK twinning programme of which the government announced funding to support in June 2022. The programme provides financial support to Ukrainian universities by establishing partnerships with those in the UK.If a Ukrainian student decides to undertake a Ukrainian university course from the UK, the department encourages students to speak with their education provider in Ukraine to understand what support is available for them to continue their studies. They should also speak to their university about the intensity of study they are offering, as this may impact their ability to access government support, through Universal Credit, whilst in the UK.

Private Education: Fees and Charges

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will ask the Competition and Markets Authority to investigate changes in the levels independent school fees.

Nick Gibb: All registered independent schools must, as a condition of registration, meet the Independent School Standards (ISS). Schools which do not meet the ISS can face regulatory action, including deregistration. The ISS do not cover the fees charged by independent schools, which are a contractual matter between the school and the parent/carer.Since independent schools do not normally receive public funding, the Department does not have any role in monitoring their spending or regulating their finances. Where the public sector funds places in independent schools, that funding is subject to the conditions put in place by the funding body.Where parents/carers have concerns about the setting or payment of fees, these should be discussed with the school.It would be a decision for the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) whether to investigate changes in the levels of independent school fees. The CMA does permit the reporting of issues in a market sector through their website. This is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/tell-the-cma-about-a-competition-or-market-problem.Many independent schools are also subject to regulation as charities or companies.

Religion: Education

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by Ofsted entitled Research review series: religious education, published on 12 May 2021; and if she will make a statement.

Nick Gibb: Education is a devolved matter, and the response outlines the information for England only. The Department welcomed the publication of Ofsted’s research review into religious education (RE) in May 2021, particularly given that it sought to identify factors that contribute to high quality RE curricula and teaching in schools. The Government’s policy is to allow the RE curricula to be designed at a local level, through locally agreed syllabuses or by individual schools and academy trusts developing their own curriculum. Whilst it is important that the review is taken into account, the Government does not prescribe how much time a school devotes to any individual subjects, including RE. It is for individual schools to plan, organise and deliver their own curriculum.

Schools: Energy

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many schools have (a) applied for capital funding for energy efficiency upgrades in each of the last five years and (b) been granted that funding.

Nick Gibb: The Department has allocated over £13 billion in condition funding since 2015 for maintaining and improving school facilities in England, including improving energy efficiency.All new buildings delivered through the School Rebuilding Programme will also be energy efficient and designed to be net zero carbon in operation.In addition, schools can access capital funding for energy efficiency and carbon reduction upgrades in schools through Salix Finance Ltd., a non-departmental public body under the sponsorship of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).Prior to 31 March 2021, schools could access Salix funding through three routes: (1) the Salix Energy Efficiency Loan Scheme for maintained schools, (2) Salix Energy Efficiency Fund (SEEF) for academies, with applications administered by Salix, and (3) through the Department’s Condition Improvement Fund (CIF).From the financial year 2018/19, the Department managed funding of schemes (2) and (3) as follows:YearApplied for SEEF projectSuccessful Schools and CollegesProportion Successful2018/1945927760%2020/2133117954% YearApplied for Salix Loan as part of CIF bidSuccessful Schools and CollegesProportion Successful2018/1946718439%2019/2044419444%2020/2156834861%2021/2241520950% Since 1 April 2021, the Department has continued to work with BEIS to help schools and colleges access the £1.4 billion Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme funded by BEIS and administered through Salix. Up to £635 million was made available through phase 3b of the scheme, in October 2022, for installing low carbon heating and energy efficiency measures in public buildings, with a minimum of 30% going to schools and colleges. This will help to cut emissions and save on energy bills.In the CIF round for 2022/23, the Department has introduced a new assessment criterion of environmental sustainability, worth a maximum of four points of the 100 points available in assessment. Applications made and awarded were as follows:CIF roundApplied with 'Increase in Energy Efficiency' = "Yes" in Application FormSuccessful Schools and CollegesProportion Successful2022/23186195751% The Department is now assessing applications submitted to the CIF round for 2023/24 and will announce the outcomes in May 2023 at the earliest.

Children in Care: Death

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 8 November 2022 to Question 65894 on Children in Care: Death, how many children in care aged 16 and 17 died while they were living in (a) semi-independent or (b) independent accommodation between April 2021 and March 2022.

Claire Coutinho: Every death of a vulnerable child or young person is a tragedy, and the following information is sensitive in nature. There were between 1 and 5 looked-after children who died while living in semi-independent or independent accommodation between April 2021 and March 2022. The department is not able to provide an exact figure to protect confidentiality.

Schools: Finance

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the level of funding pressures on schools and their ability to deliver full-time education.

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies on school budgets of the Association of School and College Leaders October 2022 survey findings that (a) 58 per cent of respondents are considering/likely to reduce teaching staff and increase class sizes, (b) 43 per cent were considering reducing curriculum options and (c) 55 per cent were considering reducing the number of teaching assistants.

Nick Gibb: The Association of School and College Leader’s survey findings were published in October 2022. In November, the 2022 Autumn Statement announced additional investment in schools. As a result, the core schools budget will increase by £2 billion in both 2023/24 and 2024/25, over and above totals announced in the 2021 Autumn Budget and Spending Review. This year, schools' funding is already £4 billion higher than last year. The Autumn Statement means it will rise by another £3.5 billion, on top of that, next year. Taken together, that means a 15% increase in funding in two years.The Institute for Fiscal Studies have noted this additional funding will fully cover expected increases in school costs up to 2024 and will take spending per pupil back to at least 2010 levels in real terms. This means 2024/25 will be the highest ever level of spending on schools in real terms per pupil. It will enable head teachers to continue to concentrate funding in the areas that positively impact educational attainment. This includes high quality teaching and targeted support to the children who need it most.The Department recognises that every school’s circumstances are different. Where schools are in financial difficulty, they should contact their Local Authority or the Education and Skills Funding Agency.

Supply Teachers

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many supply teachers are working in (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in England.

Nick Gibb: Schools in England can recruit supply teachers in one of four ways, with most schools choosing to use supply agencies. The Department does not ask agencies to report on the number of supply teachers. Information on the school workforce in England is published in the annual ‘School Workforce in England’ national statistics release at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/school-workforce-in-england. The census identifies those teachers who are employed via a service agreement with an agency, but not whether they are a supply teacher. Teachers in schools on census day with a contract or service agreement lasting fewer than 28 days are recorded as ‘occasional’ teachers. The number of occasional teachers in each school and Local Authority is available here: https://content.explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/api/releases/9a34fd81-bbaa-46ca-b5d5-e24c67a15d4d/files/e037a806-f8a0-46ea-58c2-08da7ec3a78e.

University of Huddersfield: Pay and Working Conditions

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had discussions with representatives of the University of Huddersfield on (a) staff pay and (b) working conditions in the last 12 months.

Robert Halfon: Whilst the department has not met specifically with the University of Huddersfield, we have regular meetings with representatives of trade unions that have members in the higher education sector, including the University and College Union, as well as with Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.These discussions include matters related to industrial disputes, such as use of fixed-term and casual contracts, the health of the Universities Superannuation Scheme pension fund and data on impacts of strikes on students and their learning, but not the industrial disputes themselves.Universities are autonomous and responsible for the pay and pension provision of their staff.  While the government plays no role in such disputes, we hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff and the universities, so that industrial action can be avoided.The department hopes that all sides can work together so that students do not suffer with further learning loss. Any students worried about the impact of strikes on their education are encouraged to raise this with their university.

Training: Kingston upon Hull North

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has had recent discussions with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on improving skills training in Kingston upon Hull North constituency.

Robert Halfon: The department regularly discusses skills matters with other government departments, including the Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy, but not specifically about individual constituencies.The department is investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament to ensure individuals across the country, including those living in Kingston upon Hull North, have access to the skills they need to build a fulfilling career in jobs the economy needs.The department has boosted funding by an extra £1.6 billion for 16-to-19 education in 2024/25 compared with 2021/22. This is the biggest increase in 16-to-19 funding in a decade, and will help to fund the additional students anticipated in the system, 40 extra hours per student, and an affordable increase in funding rates per 16-to-19 student.This additional funding will help providers such as Hull College, Wyke Sixth Form College, and Wilberforce Sixth Form College, who serve the Kingston upon Hull area. Collectively, their curriculum offer includes T Levels, apprenticeships, an extensive range of qualifications from Entry Level to Higher Education, and adult education programmes. Across each institution, their provision is shaped in collaboration with local employers to ensure it meets local skills needs.Within Kingston upon Hull, there are several providers that are offering T Levels or preparing to do so. Wyke Sixth Form College and Wilberforce Sixth Form College commenced delivery of T Levels in 2021. Hull College, Ron Dearing UTC and St Mary’s College (academy) all plan to commence T Level delivery in 2023. There are also several other local further education colleges offering T Levels to students in the area, such as East Riding College (Part of TEC Partnership) and Bishop Burton College who are both located in Beverley, East Riding of Yorkshire.The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 and supporting employers in all sectors and all areas of the country to use apprenticeships to develop the skilled workforces they need. Since May 2010, there have been a total of 11,880 apprenticeship starts in Kingston upon Hull North.The department has also introduced the Free Courses for Jobs scheme, which enables adult learners nationwide without a level 3 qualification (or learners with any qualification level but earning below the National Living Wage) to gain a qualification for free.In addition, there is the introduction of Skills Bootcamps which are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills and fast-track to an interview with an employer. Residents in the Kingston upon Hull North Constituency can access engineering Skills Bootcamps being delivered in the city, such as Fibre Engineer and Heat Pump Engineer Skills Bootcamps as well as a range of Skills Bootcamps available online.The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) with funding of £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 academic year. The AEB fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning.

Universities: Industrial Disputes

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many times (a) Ministers and (b) officials from her Department have met representatives of (a) the University and College Union, (b) Universities UK and (c) the Universities and Colleges Employers Association to hold discussions on industrial action at universities since 25 October.

Robert Halfon: The department has regular meetings with representatives of trade unions that have members in the higher education sector, including the University and College Union, as well as with Universities UK and the Universities and Colleges Employers Association.Universities are autonomous and responsible for the pay and pension provision of their staff.  While the government plays no role in such disputes, we hope all parties can reach an agreement that delivers good value for students, staff, and the universities, so that industrial action can be avoided.The department urges all sides to work together so that students do not suffer from lost learning, and we encourage any student worried about the impact of strikes on their education to raise this with their university.

Skills Bootcamps

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many starts on skills bootcamps, resulted in people (a) completing the course, (b)  receiving a job interview and (c) securing a job offer in 2021 – 22.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a breakdown of the starts on skills bootcamps by (a) age, (b) ethnicity, and (c) sex in 2021 – 22.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a breakdown of the starts on skills bootcamps by course taken  in 2021–22.

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish a breakdown of the starts on skills bootcamps by (a) region and (b) local authority in 2021–22.

Robert Halfon: On 8 December 2022, the department published a statistical release, showing how many Skills Bootcamps starts there were in financial year 2021/22, based on data returned by Skills Bootcamps providers, available here: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/skills-bootcamps-starts/2021-22.This data release only covers the number of Skills Bootcamps starts. Further breakdowns of the starts on Skills Bootcamps, including by age, ethnicity, gender, by course taken, and by region and local authority will be provided in an evaluation report.A further release will also be published covering completions and outcomes data for this cohort.

Overseas Students: Ukraine

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent discussions she has had with Cabinet colleagues on supporting Ukrainian students studying full-time at Ukrainian institutions remotely from the UK.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to provide financial support to Ukrainian students studying full-time at Ukrainian institutions remotely from the UK.

Margaret Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of Ukrainian students studying full-time at Ukrainian institutions remotely from the UK.

Robert Halfon: The department has worked alongside colleagues at the Home Office to explore what support can be made available for both Ukrainian students continuing their study remotely from the UK, and those studying at UK institutions.Universities in Ukraine are striving to maintain the education of their students under extremely challenging conditions. This includes through the provision of online distance learning for students enrolled at Ukrainian universities who now live in another country, including in the UK. The department encourages these students to speak with their education provider in Ukraine to understand what support is available for them to continue their studies at their Ukrainian provider. This includes those studying through the UK twinning programme, of which the government announced funding to support in June 2022. Information about this can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-uk-package-offers-a-lifeline-to-ukrainian-researchers-and-entrepreneurs. The programme provides support to Ukrainian universities by establishing partnerships with those in the UK.Student finance is available only for eligible students studying a course provided predominantly in the UK by a UK higher education provider, including Ukrainian students who have enrolled at UK universities. In England, those studying via distance learning are, in general, not eligible to receive student loans to cover maintenance costs. This is also the case for Ukrainian students in England, who are studying via distance learning.The department does not hold data on the number of Ukrainians who are studying online at Ukrainian institutions via distance learning in the UK.

Manufacturing Industries: Apprentices

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of providing funding for female apprentices in the manufacturing sector.

Robert Halfon: Apprenticeships are a great way for individuals to receive high-quality training and begin or progress in a successful career in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM).The department would like to see more females accessing traditionally male-dominated fields and those offering higher wage returns. The proportion of females starting apprenticeships in engineering and manufacturing technologies has risen from 7.3% in the 2017/18 academic year to 9.5% in 2021/22.The department is increasing investment in apprenticeships to £2.7 billion by 2024/25 to support employers of all sizes across England in offering more apprenticeships in all sectors, including STEM. Employers in engineering and manufacturing can access apprenticeship funding to support new starters and meet their skills needs. The department has no current plans to provide separate funding for females undertaking manufacturing rolesOur Apprenticeships Diversity Champions Network is championing gender representation amongst employers in industries where improvement is needed, including in engineering and manufacturing. The network published a report during National Apprenticeship Week 2022 sharing best practice and hints and tips for employers to improve diversity in apprenticeships. In addition, our Apprenticeship Support and Knowledge Programme is continuing to provide free resources to promote STEM apprenticeships to females in schools.The department is also working with the Apprenticeships in Manufacturing group, which includes industry partners such as Make UK and Enginuity, to grow the number of high-quality apprenticeships in the manufacturing sector.

Educational Maintenance Allowance: Social Mobility

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of abolishing the Educational Maintenance Allowance on social mobility.

Ms Lyn Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what comparative assessment her Department has made of the impact of the 16 to 19 Bursary Fund with the Educational Maintenance Allowance on social mobility.

Robert Halfon: The Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) ceased in England a number of years ago. The government made the decision to discontinue the EMA as evidence showed that it was poorly targeted and wasteful in supporting financially disadvantaged young people to stay in education beyond the age of 16. The EMA was paid to 45 per cent of all 16 to 18-year-olds in further education, but survey evidence found that only around one in ten of those who received EMA said that they would not be able to participate without it.The 16 to 19 Bursary Fund targets those young people most in need of financial support to stay on in further education and training. The bulk of the funding is allocated to institutions who are responsible for ensuring that these funds go to those who need them. Bursaries of up to £1,200 per year are also available to specific vulnerable groups.An independent impact evaluation looking at the change from the EMA to the 16-19 Bursary Fund was commissioned by the government and published in 2015. This can be found at:: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/evaluation-of-the-16-to-19-bursary-fund-year-1-report.For the 2022/23 academic year the department has increased the Bursary Fund by over £9 million from £134,352,473 to £143,691,863. This will help with the increasing costs of attending education, and we are keeping this situation under review.

Overseas Students: Hong Kong

Hilary Benn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she plans to take steps with Cabinet colleagues to review the charging of overseas student fees to British National (Overseas) visa holders from Hong Kong who have moved to the UK.

Robert Halfon: To qualify for home fee status in the UK, a person must have settled status or a recognised connection to the UK. This includes people who are covered by the EU Withdrawal Agreement, have long residence in this country, or who have been granted international protection by the Home Office. There are also requirements associated with ordinary residence in the UK.Subject to meeting the normal eligibility requirements, British Nationals (Overseas) status holders will be able to qualify for home fee status once they have acquired settled status in the UK. This is usually acquired after five years.There are no plans to review British Nationals (Overseas) status holder’s access to home fee status.

Ministry of Justice

Ministry of Justice: Crimes against the Person

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December 2022 to Question 102864 on Ministry of Justice: Crimes against the Person, whether any grievances against Ministry of Justice Ministers for which the reason included (a) harassment - sex and (b) bullying were (i) upheld and (ii) partially upheld in each year since 2018.

Mike Freer: The department can confirm that no complaints were upheld or partially upheld against Ministry of Justice Ministers since 1 January 2018. These include the reasons of (a) harassment - sex and (b) bullying.

Prisons: Drugs

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of drug overdoses at prisons in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: YearNumber of self-harm incidents due to drug overdoses20192,29520202,15820212,273We are committed to doing all we can to prevent deaths from drug overdoses in prison. We’ve outlined in both our Prisons Strategy Whitepaper and the Government’s 10-year drug strategy ‘From Harm to Hope’ (2021) how we will achieve this. We have committed to opening Drug Recovery Wings in prisons, introduced Problem Solving Courts and we supply life-saving naloxone medication to staff in prisons and in Approved Premises to help prevent unnecessary opioid deaths.Naloxone is a medication used to reverse or reduce the effects of opioids. It is currently carried by healthcare staff in prisons to administer where opiate overdose is suspected.We propose to implement Naloxone in all prisons and probation sites in England and Wales and to train all new entrants and 30% of existing staff to administer Naloxone and to recognise the signs of overdose. Existing staff will be asked to volunteer to administer Naloxone.Consistent with National Statistics on these prison incidents, as published in Safety in Custody, figures do not include incidents in Secure Training Centres.In prisons, as in the community, it is not possible to count self-harm incidents with absolute accuracy.In prison custody, however, such incidents are more likely to be detected and counted. Care needs to be taken when comparing figures shown here with other sources where data may be less complete.Incidents where self-harm was due to a drug overdose can include multiple individuals; the figures in the table count the number of incidents where an overdose occurred rather than the number of individuals that overdosed.Includes self-harm options listed as "illegal drugs", "own medication" and "other persons medication"Data Sources and QualityThese figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.The data only includes self-harm incidents collated centrally; identifying any wider incidents that lead to a hospitalisation and have a connection to drugs would exceed the cost threshold as it would require reading through the text of each incident.For a breakdown of Self Inflicted Deaths by method (including overdose), please see section 1.8 in the below published data from Safety in Custody: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1113633/Deaths_in_prison_custody_1978_to_2021.xlsxTable 1.1 in the above publication gives the number of other/non-natural deaths per year.In the case of drug related deaths where no intent to self-harm has been discovered, the death has been classified as “Other: Non-natural”, however this category also includes other accidental deaths where drugs were not present.‘Other: Non-Natural’ deaths include accidental and other difficult to classify deaths including those for which further information is awaited. Some of the most recent two years figures are expected to be reclassified as natural causes or self-inflicted deaths.

Prisons: Crimes of Violence

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison staff who required hospital treatment following a prisoner assault in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: The number of incidents of a prisoner assault leading to a prison staff member requiring hospital treatment 2019-2021 can be seen in the below table.YearNumber of assaults leading to a staff member requiring hospital treatment20191,33520208712021951Figures may include prison staff who have been hospitalised in assaults between prisoners.Total number of prison staff may exceed total number of incidents as some incidents may include more than one prison staff member.Consistent with National Statistics on these prison incidents, as published in Safety in Custody, figures do not include incidents in Secure Training Centres.Data Sources and QualityThese figures have been drawn from the HMPPS Incident Reporting System. Care is taken when processing and analysing returns but the detail is subject to the inaccuracies inherent in any large scale recording system. Although shown to the last case, the figures may not be accurate to that level.The Prisons Strategy White Paper set out how we will improve safety and security in our prisons. Prison staff carry out a vital role in protecting the public and we will do all we can to protect them and prisoners from violence.

Special Educational Needs: Tribunals

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time between registering an appeal and the date of the final hearing in the First-tier Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal was in each of the last 5 years for which data is available.

Mike Freer: The judicial aim is that cases should be heard within 22 weeks of the date on which the appeal was registered. This timeframe can include, amongst other things, case management hearings and possible adjournments for further evidence to be obtained. The average time between registering the appeal and the date of final hearing was:In 2017 – 22 weeksIn 2018 – 24 weeksIn 2019 – 24 weeksIn 2020 – 23 weeks, andIn 2021 – 22 weeks

Marriage: Documents

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Law Commission's report entitled Celebrating Marriage: A New Weddings Law, HC 557, published on 19 July 2022, when he plans to respond to the recommendations in that report; and with reference to recommendation 36 in that report that couples should be able to have their schedules and marriage documents issued and completed in Welsh alone where the wedding ceremony takes place in Wales, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending that potential right to couples who would prefer Welsh documentation where the marriage takes place in England.

Mike Freer: To date, the Government has made no assessment in the potential merits of including a Welsh-only option for people receiving registration documents in England. We will set out our position to recommendation 36, and wider marriage reform, within the formal Government response to the Law Commission in due course.

Administration of Estates

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of changing laws governing estate administration to allow caveats to be put in place which can stop indefinitely (a) a grant of probate or (b) letters of administration from being issued.

Mike Freer: The Government has no plans to review the law on the administration of estates which provides checks and balances to protect the interests of the different parties in contentious probate disputes. Where parties are unable to reach agreement and a caveat is not withdrawn, there are steps the applicant can take to remove the caveat by recourse to a direction or order of the court. However, a caveat may remain in place if parties take no steps to remove it.

Probate Service: Standards

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department is taking steps to help reduce the time it takes for the Probate Office to respond to applications.

Mike Freer: Despite the unprecedented challenges faced by the probate service during the Covid 19 pandemic, and the increased volume of applications that there have been seen since, the average length of time taken for a grant of probate following receipt of the documents required has been maintained at between five and seven weeks – with the average responses being almost 2 weeks faster in quarter 3 of 2022 than the yearly average for 2020 and 2021.Average waiting times for probate grants, up to September 2022, are published on gov.uk via Family Court Statistics Quarterly (Table 25): https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2022HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.

Probate

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many and what proportion of probate applications submitted in the last 12 months were processed and received a response within 30 working days.

Mike Freer: All applicants using the digital service receive confirmation of receipt at the point of submission and, if required, once we receive the original will or other supporting documents. In the last 12 months 56% (158,510) of all applications were either stopped or had their grant issued within 30 days of receipt of the documents needed to assess the case.HMCTS has increased resources to meet the higher demand following an increased number of estates requiring probate and is further increasing resourcing to further bring down overall timeliness on digital and paper applications.The improvement of the online probate system remains a priority for HMCTS, to ensure more applications can be issued first time and resources can be focused on reducing waiting times.

Dominic Raab

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department holds any records of (a) informal complaints and (b) formal grievances raised about the conduct of the right Hon. Member for Esher and Walton.

Mike Freer: The department holds records of complaints about the Rt Hon. Member for Esher and Walton. The Prime Minister has appointed Adam Tolley KC to conduct an independent investigation into complaints about the conduct of the Deputy Prime Minister and it would not be appropriate to comment further during the investigation.

Sentencing

Janet Daby: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what progress his Department has made on the White Paper entitled A smarter approach to sentencing.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice published a Sentencing White Paper – ‘A Smarter Approach to Sentencing’ - in September 2020, which set out the department’s plans for a system that protects the public, as well as one which the public can understand and have confidence in.The reforms announced in the White Paper were about ensuring that the most serious and dangerous offenders are kept in prison for longer, while also tackling the underlying causes of criminal behaviour and improving the rehabilitation and supervision of offenders in the community.The legislative measures in the White Paper formed the basis of the sentencing measures in the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act which was passed earlier this year, with most measures having commenced on 28 June 2022. Measures included abolishing automatic halfway release for certain serious offenders, making a Whole Life Order the default sentencing position for offenders who commit the premeditated murder of a child, and preventing the automatic early release for offenders who become of significant public protection concern while in custody. Other measures included a statutory duty to consult on the design and delivery of unpaid work, increasing the length and flexibility of electronically monitored curfew, and streamlining the out of court disposals framework. We also brought forward measures to allow the piloting of Problem-Solving Courts and we have announced three sites that we are working closely with to launch the pilots.The White Paper also made a number of non-legislative commitments. We have made significant progress on these commitments and work on implementation is ongoing. Key areas of progress include the cross-government Action Plan on neurodiversity which we published in June this year, in response to the independent Evidence Review we commissioned. An update on the progress made on the Action Plan is due to published shortly. We also launched the Pre-Sentence Report Pilot in March 2021, with the initial findings from the process evaluation due to be published in 2023, and we are undertaking an evaluation of the national Community Treatment Sentence Requirement programme, with early feedback expected in 2023.

Bail: Offenders

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of offences committed by defendants on bail while awaiting trial in each of the last three years.

Edward Argar: The number of offences committed by individuals on bail in each of the last three years, for which data is available, is as follows:2019 – 34,5992020 – 30,6862021 – 21,354Source: MoJ extract of the Police National Computer

Property: Probate

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the number of properties currently held in the probate process pending resolution of a dispute in a probate matter.

Munira Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many caveats have been entered with the Probate Registry in each year since 2017.

Mike Freer: The information requested about the number of properties currently held in the probate process pending resolution is not held centrally.The attached table shows the number of caveats that have been entered with the Probate Registry since 2017.Table (xlsx, 17.6KB)

Ministry of Justice: Vacancies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which five teams in their Department have the highest number of staffing vacancies as a proportion of total staff as of 8 December 2022; and what proportion of roles were vacant in each of those teams.

Mike Freer: We do not hold the information requested and to source this data would produce a disproportionate cost.

Coroners: Appeals

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he will respond to the recommendation of the Justice Committee in its report on the Coroner Service published on 27 May 2021, that a system of appeals against coroners’ decisions, similar to that in Section 40 of the Coroners and Justice Act 2009 as originally enacted, should be introduced.

Mike Freer: As set out in the Government’s response to the Justice Committee’s First Report on the Coroner Service, we undertook to implement six of the Committee’s recommendations and consider 10 further recommendations, including the introduction of a system of appeals against coroners’ decisions. We will take forward any actions arising from that further consideration as soon as is practicable. However, as outlined in the Government’s response, any appeals system would need to be proportionate, should not make the coronial system adversarial, and must avoid overwhelming the Chief Coroner’s Office.

Prisons: Unmanned Air Vehicles

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of drone sightings at prisons in each of the last three years.

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of drones intercepted that were involved in drug dealing in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: The number of drone sightings, interceptions and recoveries recorded in the immediate vicinity of prisons in each of the last three years is provided in the table below.Year201920202021Sightings, Interceptions and Recoveries122134248We do not hold data centrally on the number of drone interceptions involved in drug dealing.We are working hard to deter, detect and disrupt the illegal use of drones. We conduct assessments across the estate to understand risk and implement targeted countermeasures such as improved cell windows, netting and physical upgrades. Prisons and police work closely together on criminal drone activity – helping secure more than 51 convictions since June 2016. Those sentenced are serving a total of 159 years in prison. Recent joint operations with the police and HMPPS have resulted in more drone related arrests and the disruption of Serious and Organised Crime network activities.

Prison Education Review

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, what the budget of the Dynamic Purchasing System is for each prison.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, how the budget of the Dynamic Purchasing System is determined for each prison.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, what proportion of the budget of the Dynamic Purchasing System was spent in each prison in the most recent accounting period.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, on which courses the budget of the Dynamic Purchasing System was spent on in each prison in the most recent accounting period,.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, which providers have been paid from the budget of the Dynamic Purchasing System in each prison in the most recent accounting period.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, what recent assessment he has made of the effectiveness of courses funded by the Dynamic Purchasing System.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, whether courses contracted under the Dynamic Purchasing System are subject to the same quality regime as those contracted under the Prison Education Framework.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 94773 on Prison Education Review, how his Department monitors value for money of courses contracted under the Dynamic Purchasing System.

Damian Hinds: The Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) is designed to enable governors to commission innovative, local projects that meet the needs of their prisoners. The budget for the DPS in 2022-23 is £21.8 million. Allocation of the education budget is based on Prisoner population and the role of the individual prison. Governors have authority to move education funds between the Prison Education Framework (PEF) and the DPS pots on an annual basis, up to 5 per cent of the PEF contract value. The overall spend this financial year to date is £11.3 million, against the year-to-date budget of £12.6 million.As these services involve local spending plans and courses commissioned, we do not keep central records of what each prison commissions, and it would not be possible to obtain the information requested on a prison-by-prison basis without approaching each prison individually, which would incur disproportionate cost.95 suppliers are currently delivering DPS services, which include: Catering & Hospitality; Construction, Cleaning and Facilities Management; Engineering & Manufacturing Technologies; Retail & Commercial Enterprise; Health & Public Services and Care; Business, Leadership, Administration and Law; Arts, Media and Publishing; Agriculture, Horticulture and Animal Care; Sport, Leisure, Travel and Tourism; Information and Communication Technology (additional to the core curriculum); Life Skills; Services to support individuals with additional learning needs; Resettlement; Preparation for Work, Careers Information Advice and Guidance.The success and value for money of local commissioning is evaluated at local level, with support from the central contract management team. For larger DPS contracts, additional assurance processes are put in place by the contract management team. In addition to the contract management process, DPS provision is subject to OFSTED scrutiny, as are PEF and Prison Education provision.

Prisons: Racial Discrimination

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of trends in the level of racial disproportionality in prisons.

Damian Hinds: Racial and ethnic disparities are closely monitored across the justice system, and we continue to develop a wider, and deeper, range of factors that we monitor. The data, including analysis of relative differences between groups, helps give a detailed picture of where over-representation and disproportionality may be occurring. A comprehensive statistical assessment of these issues from across the system, including in prisons, can be found in Ethnicity and the Criminal Justice system.We are committed to understanding and tackling disparities that emerge in the outcomes for, and treatment of, ethnic minorities in prison. This is why in December 2020 we launched the Race Action Programme, which is focused on creating long-term change through increasing the diversity of our workforce, addressing the risk of bias in our policies, and their implementation to tackle disparity in outcomes for ethnic minorities throughout the prison and probation service.However, last week’s thematic report from His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons is a sobering read and His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service will announce details early next year on the wide-ranging action we will deliver to bring about necessary changes.

Berwyn Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether HMP Berwyn is operating at its full capacity.

Damian Hinds: As at 25 November 2022, Berwyn was operating at very near full capacity. Exact figures are published on a monthly basis and can be found via the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/prison-population-figures-2022.

Five Wells Prison

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when he expects HMP Five Wells to be able to hold offenders to its designed capacity.

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when HMP Five Wells will be contractually required to be able to hold its full planned number of prisoners.

Damian Hinds: We are working closely with G4S, in accordance with the terms of the contract, to achieve full operational capacity as early as possible.

Prisons: Drugs

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prisons where drugs have been found to be manufactured in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: There have been no proven cases of prisoners manufacturing forensically identifiable substances in custody that would, under lab conditions, be proven to be a known drug. There is a remote chance of some prisoners experimenting with chemicals to produce substances that may/may not have a psychoactive effect, but this is unlikely to be undertaken in an organised manner or with the equipment required to produce the desired effects.

Prison Officers: Drugs

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate he has made of the number of prison officers caught smuggling drugs into prisons in each of the last three years.

Damian Hinds: The vast majority of prison staff are hardworking and dedicated. A minority of staff engage in corrupt activity which is often as a result of conditioning and manipulation by prisoners.There have been a total of 80 outcomes (Criminal Justice, Dismissal or Exclusion) for Prison Officers linked to conveyance of drug related offences since 1 January 2020. Below is a table showing the breakdown by outcome type over the three-year period to 14 December 2022:Prison OfficersYearCJS OutcomesExclusionsDismissalsTotal2020478192021141193420224131027Source: Linkspace Case Management SystemHM Prison & Probation Service has a zero-tolerance policy to drugs conveyed into prisons and take appropriate action to a small number of prison staff who break the rules. Our £100m Security Investment Programme, aimed at reducing crime in prisons, including reducing the conveyance of illicit items such as drugs and mobile phones, was completed in March 2022. This included increased resource to pursue corruption, as well as establish a new ‘Prevent’ function, aimed at building staff resilience against corruption.Notes:1) The new Counter Corruption Unit came into being in April 2019, with a new structure and a change to ways of working. During the initial transition period, and prior to the introduction of the new Case Management System, it is possible that not all outcomes were being captured. Data has been provided in this response from 1st January 2020.2) Outcome data is shared as we cannot assume guilt during an ongoing case. Due to the length of time a case can take to progress through the criminal justice system and the appeals system, the numbers of outcomes may increase or decrease as the years progress.3) Exclusions and Dismissal – These figures quoted are subject to the progress of the case and counted separately.4) Cases are dependent on information being reported through our reporting systems. Therefore, the outcomes only reflect the instances reported and developed through the CCU process.

Prisoners: Exercise

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 5 September 2022 to Question 39794, Prisons: Exercise, whether the amount of time that prisoners must spend out of their cells in private prisons is set out in a contract.

Damian Hinds: Time out of cell in private prisons is monitored through our performance measures and contract management arrangements. In cases where the requirement is not specified in the contract, it is set annually as part of the contract management process.

Prisons

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral statement of 30 November 2022 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 914, what the (a) prison population and (b) operational capacity of the prison estate was on (i) 27 March 2020 and (ii) 2 December 2022.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral statement of 30 November 2022 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 914, how many out-of-use cells there were at each adult male prison on 2 December 2022.

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to his oral statement of 30 November 2022 on Prison Capacity, Official Report, column 914, what the (a) capacity and (b) population was at each adult male prison on 2 December 2022.

Damian Hinds: The total population and capacity of the prison estate is published weekly at Prison population statistics - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The population and capacity of each individual prison is published monthly at the same link.On 27 March 2020, the total population was 83,189 and the useable operational capacity of the estate was 85,583. On 2 December 2022, the total population was 82,896 and the useable operational capacity was 84,148.A table showing the capacity, population and places out of use at each adult male prison on 2 December 2022 has been provided below. Prison capacity can be taken out of use temporarily for a number of reasons.All new prison capacity is brought into use in a phased and controlled way, so only cells that are available for use are included below. With regard to places out of use, these have only been listed where the losses affect the deliverable operational capacity of the site, and so is limited to sites where losses are not mitigated by other means (e.g. temporary accommodation).Prison NamePopulationCurrent Op CapPlaces out of useAltcourse116111640Ashfield4064120Aylesbury3804020Bedford37040021Belmarsh7187740Berwyn1817182080Birmingham9719770Brinsford48853938Bristol5635660Brixton74178612Buckley Hall4614690Bullingdon902921191Bure6216430Cardiff7397772Channings Wood6897240Chelmsford69572030Coldingley48149419Dartmoor6326400Deerbolt311323206Doncaster114211450Dovegate115911600Durham9689850Elmley112911570Erlestoke4344680Exeter384400112Featherstone6776870Feltham313322208Five Wells8718760Ford3873890Forest Bank145714600Frankland8278520Full Sutton5815940Garth7958450Gartree59160889Grendon16318845Guys Marsh4765110Hatfield2983340Haverigg30640099Hewell916933141High Down109211130Highpoint125912700Hindley5906000Hollesley Bay4825030Holme House117311790Hull94795886Humber997101927Huntercombe4604800Isis6156280Isle of Wight10021035104Kirkham4836990Kirklevington Grange1771970Lancaster Farms5565600Leeds110811100Leicester3263464Lewes6126180Leyhill4384610Lincoln6626640Lindholme93293278Littlehey118811880Liverpool8168200Long Lartin47951493Lowdham Grange84285632Maidstone5876000Manchester6817413Moorland95810060Morton Hall25433320Mount, The102410480North Sea Camp2433000Northumberland133513480Norwich7257330Nottingham8979050Oakwood208421060Onley7317420Parc164116630Pentonville1141115055Peterborough Male8999160Portland5195380Prescoed2472600Preston6816800Ranby1036108414Risley1003101698Rochester6766950Rye Hill6476640Spring Hill2893130Stafford7517520Standford Hill4414640Stocken104010710Stoke Heath7607811Sudbury5366100Swaleside924950140Swansea4114680Swinfen Hall6146240Thameside120112320Thorn Cross3814300Usk2702760Verne. The5996080Wakefield7377500Wandsworth160716280Warren Hill2662670Wayland747762161Wealstun8468560Whatton8158160Whitemoor315333126Winchester62567022Woodhill50153678Wormwood Scrubs121312800Wymott113511440

Prisoners' Release: Christmas

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, pursuant to the Answer of 7 December to Question 101737 on Prisoners' Release: Christmas, what the offence was of each of the prisoners released on Friday 24 December 2021.

Damian Hinds: The data requested is provided with the answer that I gave to the member for Croydon North on Thursday 15 December (PQ 108227).

Ministry of Justice: Crimes against the Person

Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an estimate of the number of staff who have been victims of (a) sexual harassment and (b) bullying in his Department in its Westminster premises each year since 2018.

Mike Freer: There is zero tolerance for bullying across the civil service. The MoJ also has policies in place to support staff facing any form of bullying, harassment or victimisation while at work.The table below shows the number of grievances raised by MoJ staff where the grievance reason includes "Bullying" or "Harassment - sex", and the outcome is either "Upheld" or "Partially Upheld", and the member of staff’s office location is either 102 Petty France or Clive House, by year. 20182019 20202021Grievances where the reason includes "Harassment - sex" and the outcome is either "Upheld" or "Partially Upheld" and the member of staff’s office location is either 102 Petty France or Clive House00 00Grievances where the reason includes "Bullying" and the outcome is either "Upheld" or "Partially Upheld" and the member of staff’s office location is either 102 Petty France or Clive HouseLess than 50 Less than 57Notes and caveats:Please note: grievance data only accounts for staff grievances raised about other members of staff. Data suppression is applied where the number of cases is less than 5.Grievances can be raised for multiple reasons; cases are selected where the relevant reason is cited.Year is based on year the grievance was opened on the case management system.Grievances are included where the outcome was "Upheld" or "Partially Upheld".If an appeal on the original case outcome has been made, the appeal outcome is used rather than the original case outcome.In a small number of cases multiple outcomes are recorded, these have been included if "Upheld" or "Partially Upheld" is one of the outcomes.Data covers employees in Ministry of Justice Head Quarters, His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service, His Majesty’s Prison and Probation Service, Legal Aid Agency, Office of the Public Guardian and Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority.Cases are selected if the member of staff’s HR database Employee Location field is either 102 Petty France or Clive House.

Treasury

Refugees: Ukraine

Harriett Baldwin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what plans he has to tax Ukrainian nationals on their Ukrainian-source income such as pension payments while they reside in the UK as refugees.

Victoria Atkins: The UK and the Ukraine have been signatories to a comprehensive Double Taxation treaty since 1993, which is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/ukraine-tax-treaties This treaty specifies how the two countries should tax income paid between the two countries with a view to avoiding double taxation. A key concept for interpreting the treaty is the residence of the person receiving the income. A Ukrainian national living in the UK may be resident in either the UK or Ukraine under each country’s domestic legislation, or they may be resident in both. If the recipient is resident in both countries, the treaty sets out several tests to establish one single ‘treaty residence’. These tests consider all the individual’s facts and circumstances. For pension income sourced in Ukraine, this will only be taxed in the country where the recipient is resident under the treaty, which could either be the UK or Ukraine depending on the circumstances. The treatment of other types of income will vary, as set out in the treaty. HMRC has provided bespoke guidance (translated into Ukrainian) for situations where Ukrainians maintain their employment in Ukraine while present in the UK. This is also available on Gov.uk: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/paying-taxes-in-the-uk-if-you-work-for-an-employer-based-in-ukraine

Energy Bill Relief Scheme

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether the review of the Energy Bill Relief Scheme has concluded; when he plans to announce the Government's decisions on support for vulnerable non-domestic customers beyond March 2023; and if he will make a statement before the House rises for recess on 20 December 2022.

John Glen: Through the Energy Bill Relief Scheme (EBRS), the government is providing a discount on wholesale gas and electricity prices for all non-domestic consumers. This is a temporary measure that will protect them from soaring energy costs and will apply to energy usage for six months from 1 October 2022 to 31 March 2023.The ongoing HMT-led review of the EBRS will determine support for UK non-domestic energy consumers beyond this six months, with the aim of reducing the public finances’ exposure to volatile international energy prices from April 2023. The Chancellor will announce the outcome of this review in the New Year to ensure businesses have sufficient certainty about future support before the current scheme ends in March 2023.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for March 2021, what photographs were purchased from The Tate for £3,393 on 30 March 2021, and for what purpose.

James Cartlidge: HM Treasury purchased fine art photographs from the Tate which were exhibited throughout HM Treasury’s Horse Guards Road building.

Supermarkets: Alcoholic Drinks

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make it mandatory for supermarkets to provide and publish data on alcohol sales.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will bring forward legislative proposals to give the Scottish Parliament powers to impose a levy on the profits made by supermarkets on the minimum unit price for low-cost high-strength alcohol.

James Cartlidge: As part of our alcohol duty review, the Government has confirmed that the UK will move to a taxation system which taxes all alcohol products according to strength to meet its public health objectives, whilst ensuring it does not increase administrative burdens on businesses. The reforms ensure that stronger products, which are associated with higher levels of harm, pay proportionately more duty. We keep the alcohol duty rates under review through the yearly Budget process and aim to balance public health objectives with support for businesses.

Cost of Living Payments: Children

Amy Callaghan: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to provide additional cost of living support to families with seriously ill children.

John Glen: The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, such as children with serious health conditions and their families. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way.If a child or young person has extra-costs arising from their disability, then they may qualify for disability benefits such as Disability Living Allowance (DLA) for children or Child Disability Payment in Scotland. At Autumn Statement 2022, the Government announced that it will provide a further Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 in 2023/24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Child Disability Payment or DLA for children. This is additional to the £150 payment for recipients of disability benefits in 2022 already announced as part of the Cost of Living package in May. The families and/or carers of disabled children will benefit from this payment if they live in the same household as a disabled child. These payments can also be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits (such as Universal Credit), namely the £650 payment announced in May and the additional £900 payment announced at Autumn Statement.Disabled children and their families will also benefit from other forms of non-means-tested support which the Government is providing to assist with household energy bills. We have taken decisive action to support millions of households with rising energy costs through the Energy Price Guarantee, ​which limits the price suppliers can charge customers for units of gas and electricity. In addition to the Energy Price Guarantee, millions of the most vulnerable households will receive further support this year through the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme.

Small Businesses: Tax Allowances

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to Answer of 5 December to Question 99832 on Small Businesses: Tax Allowances, whether an impact assessment has been made on the introduction of potential restrictions on overseas spending within R&amp;D tax credits on (a) the total investment of UK companies in R&amp;D and (b) the total investment in R&amp;D by international organisations with headquarters outside the UK.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with small business organisations on the impact on start ups and scale ups of the changes to Research and Development tax credits.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 28 November 2022 to Question 90808 on Research: Tax Allowances, what estimate he has made of the annual financial impact of the lower SME R&amp;D tax relief rate on genuine R&amp;D intensive companies not believed to be submitting abusive or fraudulent claims; and if he will provide a sectoral breakdown.

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to the 2021 business enterprise research and development statistics published on 22 November 2022 by the Office for National Statistics, what assessment he has made of the reasons for differences in increases in expenditure on R&amp;D by companies of 249 employees or less and companies of 250 or more since 2016.

Victoria Atkins: As part of the ongoing R&D tax reliefs review, the Government is reforming the rates of the R&D tax reliefs. This reform ensures that taxpayers’ money is spent as effectively as possible, improves the competitiveness of the Research and Development Expenditure Credit (RDEC) scheme, and is a step towards a simplified, single RDEC-like scheme for all. For expenditure on or after 1 April 2023, the RDEC rate will increase from 13 per cent to 20 per cent, the small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) additional deduction will decrease from 130 per cent to 86 per cent, and the SME credit rate will decrease from 14.5 per cent to 10 per cent. Statistics relating to the R&D tax reliefs, including the distribution of R&D tax credit claims by industry sector, can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/corporate-tax-research-and-development-tax-credit/research-and-development-tax-credits-statistics-september-2022#industry-sector-analysis. The SME scheme costs twice as much as RDEC, and its cash value to loss-making firms is three times that of RDEC. Yet HMRC estimate that the RDEC scheme incentivises £2.40 to £2.70 of additional R&D for every £1 of public money spent, whereas the SME scheme incentivises £0.60 to £1.28 of additional R&D. The UK provides a generous offer of support for R&D investment, and this will continue to increase, with R&D expenditure via tax reliefs estimated to increase from £37.2bn in 2020-21 to around £60bn by the end of the scorecard period, 2027-28, and direct funding for R&D will reach £20bn a year by 2024-25. The reform to the rates is estimated to leave the level of R&D related business investment in the economy unchanged. Ahead of Budget the Government is working with industry to understand whether further support is necessary for R&D intensive SMEs, without significant change to the overall cost envelope for supporting R&D. The Government is committed to refocussing the R&D reliefs towards innovation in the UK. At Autumn Budget 2021, the Government set out its intention to more effectively capture the benefits of R&D funded by the reliefs through refocusing support towards innovation in the UK. The Government will allow for some narrow exemptions where it is in some way unavoidable for the R&D activity to undertaken overseas.

Off-payroll Working

Sarah Green: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to clarify IR35 guidance on whether (a) workers, (b) end clients or (c) umbrella companies are liable to pay Employer's National Insurance Contributions and the Employer's Training Levy.

Victoria Atkins: Where a worker is engaged, via an intermediary, by a large- or medium-sized private or voluntary sector client or by a public body, and the off-payroll working rules apply to the engagement, it is the deemed employer who is responsible for deducting income tax and employee National Insurance contributions (NICs) from the payment to the worker’s intermediary. In this situation, the deemed employer is also responsible for paying employer NICs and Apprenticeship Levy, where applicable, on top of the payment to the worker’s intermediary. Guidance on this is available on GOV.UK. Where a worker is employed by an umbrella company, the off-payroll working rules do not apply and the umbrella company is responsible for paying any employer NICs and Apprenticeship Levy due. HMRC has published guidance to help workers engaged by umbrella companies to understand how these arrangements work, how they can expect to be paid and how to challenge if unauthorised deductions are made.

Solar Power: VAT

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 1 November 2022 to Question 73093 on Solar Power: VAT, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of applying a zero per cent rate of VAT to batteries used for energy-storage purposes to supporting weather-dependant renewable energy sources, and whether he will provide and update on the review.

Victoria Atkins: As set out in my previous response, at Spring Statement 2022, the Government announced the expansion of the VAT relief on the installation of energy saving materials (ESMs) to residential accommodation in Great Britain. The expansion of the relief, which includes the zero-rating of solar panel installations, represents an additional £280 million of support for investment in ESMs. VAT is the UK’s third largest tax, forecast to raise £157 billion in 2022/23, helping to fund key spending priorities such as important public services, including the NHS and policing. Extending the ESMs relief to battery storage as a standalone technology would have a fiscal cost and should be viewed in the context of over £50 billion of requests for relief from VAT received since the EU referendum. However, the Government keeps all taxes under review, and recognises the importance of ensuring that policy remains in step with the rapid pace of technological development in the ESMs market and the changing policy context since this particular relief was introduced.

Tax Allowances: Disabilty

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 25 November 2022 to Question 92309 on Tax Allowances: Disability, will he consider the potential merits of introducing a Deaf Person’s Tax Allowance that is equivalent to the Blind Person’s Tax Allowance.

Victoria Atkins: The Government recognises that the rising cost of living has presented additional financial challenges to many people, and especially to the most vulnerable members of society, including those who are deaf. That is why the Government is taking decisive action to support households while ensuring we act in a fiscally responsible way. This support includes a further Disability Cost of Living Payment of £150 in 2023-24 to people in receipt of extra-costs disability benefits such as Personal Independence Payment or Disability Living Allowance. This is additional to the £150 payment for recipients of disability benefits in 2022 already announced as part of the Cost of Living package in May. These payments can be received in addition to the other Cost of Living Payments for households on means-tested benefits, namely the £650 payment announced in May and the additional £900 payment announced at Autumn Statement. Individuals who have limited or no ability to work because of their disability or long-term health condition, and are in receipt of means-tested benefits such as income-related Employment and Support Allowance or the Universal Credit Health top up, are eligible for this support. The Government is also supporting households with rising energy costs through the Energy Price Guarantee, the £400 Energy Bills Support Scheme, and the £150 Council Tax rebate. Any new income tax relief would only benefit those who pay income tax, whereas Government support payments can be targeted and include those who earn below the Personal Allowance. The Government will continue to keep all income tax reliefs and allowances under review.

Treasury: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

James Cartlidge: HM Treasury spent approximately £121,000 in total on transactions of less than £500 on Government Procurement Cards (GPC) in 2021.

Financial Services: Regulation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact on financial stability of the proposals to amend regulation of the financial sector announced in Edinburgh on 9th December 2022.

John Glen: The Edinburgh Reforms, launched by the Chancellor on 9 December, take forward the government’s ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre. The government’s approach recognises and protects the foundations on which the UK’s success as a financial services hub is built: agility, consistently high regulatory standards, and openness. This approach will continue to ensure that the sector is resilient and able to support economic growth, while ensuring consumers and citizens benefit from high-quality services, appropriate consumer protection, and a sector that embraces the latest technology.

Unpaid Work

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent assessment he has made of the value to the British economy of unpaid household work.

John Glen: The ONS produce regular estimates of unpaid household labour. This data is currently up to date until 2016, when the total value of unpaid household service work was £1.24 trillion, equivalent to 63.1% of gross domestic product. Estimates for 2017 to 2021 are due to be released in Q4 2022. The Government has provided the Office for National Statistics (ONS) with an additional £25 million to help implement the recommendations of Sir Charles Bean’s 2016 Review of Economics Statistics, including through an initiative called ‘Beyond GDP’ that aims to address the limitations in GDP by developing broader measures of welfare and activity. Part of this work is looking to improve estimates of unpaid household work, and integrate them into extended measures of GDP such as Net Inclusive Income.

Sanctions: Russia

Jim Shannon: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether his Department is taking steps with Cabinet colleagues to investigate whether the transfer of (a) funds and (b) properties in the UK by families of Russian oligarchs is done to evade sanctions.

John Glen: The Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI), part of HM Treasury, assesses all reported breaches of financial sanctions regulations. Regulations prohibit any person intentionally acting to circumvent prohibitions, or enabling and facilitating breaches of financial sanctions. Financial institutions and estate agents are considered relevant firms under the regulations and therefore have additional obligations, including to report frozen assets and any suspected breaches they are aware of.OFSI is able to utilise a variety of enforcement powers should investigations prove a breach has occurred, including publicising breaches and imposing a civil monetary penalty where cases meet the threshold. The National Crime Agency investigates the most serious evasion of sanctions and associated money laundering.

Credit Rating: Africa

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the accuracy of credit rating agencies in assigning sovereign credit ratings to African countries.

John Glen: Credit rating agencies have an important role in rating the investment risk of sovereigns. This allows lenders to assess risk and therefore supports the functioning and development of financial markets. The Credit Rating Agencies Regulation requires the ratings agencies to publish the methodologies used as well as the factors they have considered in producing the rating.

Financial Services

Mary Kelly Foy: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the impact on consumers of the decision by UK banks and Building Societies to close the PayM mobile payments system.

John Glen: On 29 September Pay.UK and fifteen of the UK’s banks and building societies announced their decision that Paym, the mobile payments service, will close permanently on 7 March 2023. Pay.UK have observed that payment volumes through Paym have diminished over the past three years as fewer people sign up to use the service. As an independent company limited by guarantee, Pay.UK has discretion over its decision-making, with oversight from the Bank of England and Payment Systems Regulator in relation to its recognised and designated payment systems. Customers will continue to have access to a range of alternative payment methods. In addition, Pay.UK assures customers that the closure process will be carried out with the needs of Paym users front of mind and, to minimise any disruption, banks and building societies will engage with their customers ahead of their closure date to make them aware of the changes and what it means for them. Pay.UK advises that any Paym customers with concerns about the change should speak to their bank or building society. For further information on the closure of Paym, please see the following webpage: https://newseventsinsights.wearepay.uk/media-centre/press-releases/paym-mobile-payments-service-to-close-in-2023/#:~:text=London%2C%2029%20September%202022%3A%20Pay,customers%20on%207%20March%202023

Housing: Regulation

Charlotte Nichols: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of his proposals to review financial sector regulation on house (a) prices and (b) supply.

John Glen: The Edinburgh Reforms, launched by the Chancellor on 9 December, take forward the government’s ambition for the UK to be the world’s most innovative and competitive global financial centre. We are committed to an open, sustainable, and technologically advanced financial services sector that is globally competitive and acts in the interests of communities and citizens across all four nations of the UK. The reforms will help to drive growth and competitiveness in this crucial sector, while retaining our commitment to high international standards. This is the first of a series of sectoral reforms to drive growth during challenging economic times. HM Treasury does not prepare formal forecasts for house prices, which are the responsibility of the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). In addition, the pricing and availability of mortgages is a commercial decision for lenders in which the Government does not intervene. In its November 2022 forecast, the OBR expects house prices to fall by 1.2% and 5.7% in 2023 and 2024 respectively. The latest available data shows that UK average house prices increased by 9.5% over the year to September 2022. Further details can be found in the OBR’s latest Economic and Fiscal Outlook published in November 2022: https://obr.uk/efo/economic-and-fiscal-outlook-november-2022/

Hospitality Industry: VAT

Justin Madders: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of introducing VAT reductions or subsidies for businesses in the hospitality sector.

Victoria Atkins: The temporary reduced rate of VAT was introduced on 15 July 2020 to support the cash flow and viability of around 150,000 businesses and protect over 2.4 million jobs in the hospitality and tourism sectors, which were severely affected by COVID-19. The relief, which ended on 31 March 2022, cost over £8 billion. All taxes are kept under review, but the Government has been clear that this was a temporary measure in response to COVID-19. It was appropriate that as restrictions were lifted and demand for goods and services in these sectors increased, the temporary VAT relief was first reduced and then removed in order to rebuild and strengthen the public finances.

Taxation

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to forecasts from the Institute for Fiscal Studies, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department’s policies of raising £37 billion in tax above that forecast's estimate for July 2022.

Victoria Atkins: The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) published an updated forecast on 23 November alongside the Autumn Statement, which is more recent than the Institute for Fiscal Studies analysis from the summer. The Government took steps at the Autumn Statement to put the public finances on a sustainable path. This required difficult decisions on both tax and spending. The OBR’s forecast took on all changes to the economic and fiscal outlook, including the latest policy decisions by the government. In this forecast, they revised their forecast of Public Sector Current Receipts in 2024-25 to £1,096.0 billion from their March of £1,090.4 billon (up £5.6 billion).

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Brexit

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's departure from the EU on their ability to deliver successful policy outcomes.

Leo Docherty: Leaving the EU has provided the UK with the freedom to conceive and implement laws and policies that put the UK first. In 2020 the UK and EU concluded the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) - the world's largest zero tariffs and zero quotas deal, taking back control of our laws, borders, money and fisheries. The TCA and the Withdrawal Agreement are functioning broadly as expected and are monitored through their respective institutions, giving the UK the opportunity to maximise the benefits of Brexit.The Government is now focussed on implementing the TCA and building respectful, mature relationships with our European neighbours to address shared challenges, such as our collective response to the Ukraine crisis, energy and illegal migration.The UK continues to work multilaterally with the G7 and NATO, and has also established a new strategic partnership with AUKUS.

Ukraine: Armed Conflict

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, if he will take steps to ensure that the Government’s support for international accountability mechanisms relating to the conflict in Ukraine prioritises sexual violence and other crimes against children.

Leo Docherty: The UK is providing £2.5 million support to the Atrocity Crimes Advisory (ACA) Group, to support Ukraine's domestic investigations and prosecution of core international crimes, including sexual violence and crimes against children. We are leading the conflict-related sexual violence strand of the ACA.The UK has also made a £1 million contribution, in addition to our £10.5 million annual contribution, to support the International Criminal Court (ICC) work. This will increase the ICC's collection of evidence capacity and help provide enhanced psychosocial support to witnesses and survivors in Ukraine.

Climate Change: Finance

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing the funding facility to help tackle climate-induced loss and damage agreed at COP27.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: All parties at COP27, including the UK, agreed to establish new funding arrangements for assisting developing countries that are particularly vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change, as well as a fund for responding to loss and damage (L&D). Parties also agreed to establish a Transitional Committee to operationalise the funding arrangements and the fund.The UK is currently engaging with the UNFCCC and parties to establish the Transitional Committee for the L&D fund and will continue to constructively engage with it to help ensure the fund and wider funding arrangements for L&D deliver effectively for countries most vulnerable to climate change.At COP27 the UK also announced £5 million of funding for the Santiago Network for L&D, which will bring together and enhance the technical assistance available to developing countries suffering from the worst impacts of climate change, as part of a £13m package of support on adaptation and losses and damages.The UK continues to prioritise adaptation and spent £2.4 billion of International Climate Finance (ICF) over 2016-2020 on climate adaptation, including investments in areas relevant to addressing losses and damages.

Nepal: Energy

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken steps to build energy generation partnerships on a bilateral basis with Nepal.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The UK is implementing its Climate Smart Development Programme in Nepal. This will promote renewable energy access by supporting the Government of Nepal to further access climate finance and leverage both public and private investments to meet its adaptation and mitigation targets. Similarly, the Government of Nepal, UK, World Bank and 15 other Development Partners (DPs) endorsed the Kathmandu Declaration on Green, Resilient and Inclusive Development (GRID) in September 2021. This will advance Nepal's climate pathway through investment in forestry, agriculture, clean energy, sustainable tourism, clean transport programs and climate smart urbanisation.

Ukraine: Water Supply

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussion has he had with Ukrainian officials on damages to the water supply in Mykolayiv due to Russian rocket attacks.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government holds regular discussions with the Ukrainian Government about damage caused by Russia's attacks on critical national infrastructure, including water supply. During recent visits to Kyiv, the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary discussed these issues and ways in which the UK Government can support the Ukrainian Government to make urgent repairs. In Kyiv on 19 November, the Prime Minister confirmed that the UK will provide £12 million to the World Food Programme and £4 million to the International Organisation for Migration to help meet urgent winter humanitarian needs through the provision of generators, shelter, water repairs and mobile health clinics.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Vacancies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, which five teams in their Department have the highest number of staffing vacancies as a proportion of total staff as of 8 December 2022; and what proportion of roles were vacant in each of those teams.

David Rutley: Following the Autumn Budget announced by the Prime Minister and Chancellor, FCDO will be launching detailed Business & Country Planning and Workforce Planning exercises in the new year. This will help to determine the FCDO's future workforce requirements from 2023-24 onwards, taking into account Ministerial priorities and delivering our FCDO transformation. Headcount and managing vacancies will be informed by plans for a smaller, more agile and more efficient civil service. Information on Full Time Equivalent roles will be published as usual in the FCDO's Annual Report and Accounts found online.

Alaa Abdel Fattah

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether the Prime Minister discussed the release of Alaa Abd El-Fattah release during COP27.

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he is considering diplomatic sanctions against the Egyptian Government if they fail to allow consular access or release of Alaa Abd El- Fattah.

Naz Shah: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether his Department has taken recent steps to secure consular access to Alaa Abd El-Fattah.

David Rutley: Mr Alaa Abd El-Fattah obtained British Citizenship in December 2021. The Egyptian authorities have repeatedly stated that they do not recognise Mr El-Fattah's British nationality and continue to refuse consular access, which was first requested in December 2021. There have been frequent follow-up requests, including at the highest levels with Prime Minister raising Mr El-Fattah's case and our request for consular access with President Sisi during COP27 on 7 November.

Agriculture: Climate Change

Patrick Grady: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what plans his Department has to update the 2015 Conceptual Framework on Agriculture to incorporate the commitments the Government made on (a) the Koronivia Joint Work on Agriculture and (b) the new Sharm el-Sheikh Work Programme at COP27.

Anne-Marie Trevelyan: The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office has no immediate plans to update the 2015 Conceptual Framework on Agriculture. However, the current Independent Commission for Aid Impact review "UK aid to agriculture in a time of climate change" is likely to provide useful insights that would inform any future update. Resilience to climate change and environmental sustainability was identified as an important cross-cutting priority in the Conceptual Framework and this priority was reflected in the UK Government's initiatives to address the climate and environment impacts of agriculture at COP26. This focus was continued at COP27, with a dedicated Agriculture and Adaptation Day, a new set of Priority Actions to deliver the Agriculture Breakthrough goal and an extended mandate for the Koronivia Joint Working Group on Agriculture.

Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 17 October to Question 59749 on Ukraine: Humanitarian Aid, what steps his Department has taken on repurposing seized Russian assets to support humanitarian efforts in Ukraine since the Ukraine Recovery Conference .

Leo Docherty: The UK Government and its G7 partners have been clear Russia must pay for the damage caused by its illegal war in Ukraine. Together with other Government departments and law enforcement agencies, we are looking at legally robust mechanisms to seize assets to fund reconstruction. We continue to work with Ukraine and international partners to support that reconstruction.

Georgia: Russia

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with his Georgian counterpart on the implications of the visit of the Speaker of the Russian State Duma to Abkhazia on 1 December 2022 and the subsequent signing of a cooperation agreement.

Leo Docherty: Although the Foreign Secretary has not discussed this issue with his Georgian counterpart, it is the longstanding policy of the UK and the vast majority of the international community that Abkhazia is Georgian territory, as we have repeatedly made clear in statements at the UN, OSCE and Council of Europe. The signing of the cooperation agreement is a further attempt to undermine Georgia's sovereignty over the territory of Abkhazia. The UK's strong support for Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and close cooperation on defence and security, makes us one of Georgia's most valued partners in countering Russian hybrid threats.

Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office: Ministerial Corrections

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the Parliamentary Under Secretary's letter of correction to the Official Report on 2 December 2022 following an Urgent Question on 28 November 2022, for what reason the correction was made.

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether (a) he and (b) his Department had discussions with his counterparts in Saudi Arabia prior to the submission of the letter of correction to the Official Report on 2 December 2022.

David Rutley: I corrected my answer to clarify that I misspoke, and that the reports of torture in the case of al-Kheir were allegations, as set out in my initial response to the Urgent Question. The FCDO and British Embassy Riyadh have frequent discussions with counterparts in Saudi Arabia. The Urgent Question was raised with our Embassy in Riyadh, but there was no discussion of correcting the Official Report. HMG has raised al-Kheir's case with the Saudi authorities on several occasions, and has reiterated the UK's principled opposition to the use of the death penalty.

Afghanistan: Refugees

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the response to the Urgent Question on 12 December 2022 on British Council Contractors: Afghanistan, Official Report, column 741, how many names his Department has sent to the Home Office for security checks for Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3 as of 13 December 2022.

Leo Docherty: Under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 3, the FCDO received over 11,400 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) before the window to submit EOIs closed on 15 August 2022. We have been processing each EOI to assess if the eligibility criteria has been met, have started to notify individuals of the outcome and are referring cases to the Home Office. Given the sensitivity of this part of the process, we are not able to provide specific numbers on security checks. Once these security checks have been completed, we will provide further information on next steps to eligible individuals. We will update Parliament on numbers to be resettled under Pathway 3 once we have completed the allocation process, have notified all those who submitted EOIs of the outcome and have assured data to share.

Iran: Demonstrations

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what steps he is taking to help prevent the use of the death penalty for protesters in Iran by (a) making representations to his Iranian counterpart and (b) raising the issue in multilateral fora.

David Rutley: The use of the death penalty against protestors standing up for their basic human rights is morally abhorrent. The UK opposes the death penalty in all circumstances. On 8 December, the Foreign Secretary released a statement condemning the regime's action and summoned Iran's most senior diplomat to demand that Iran must halt all executions and end the violence against its own people. On 9 December, we sanctioned 10 Iranian officials connected to Iran's judicial and prison systems, including 6 individuals linked to the Revolutionary Courts that have been responsible for prosecuting protestors with egregious sentences including the death penalty. The UK will continue to hold Iran to account for its brutal crackdown of protests and refusal to respect the basic human rights of its citizens.

Government Hospitality: Wines

Mr David Lammy: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what the cost to his Department was of most expensive bottle of wine (a) purchased by and (b) consumed from the Government Wine Cellar this year.

David Rutley: I refer the honourable Member to the reply of 17 October to PQ 59209 placed by the hon. Member for Rhondda. https://questions-statements.parliament.uk/written-questions/detail/2022-10-10/59209

Bahrain: Elections

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 102995, which local NGOs and civil society groups monitored the parliamentary elections in Bahrain on 12 and 19 November.

David Rutley: Organisations that monitored the parliamentary elections in Bahrain on 12 and 19 November included: Bahraini Jurists/Lawyers Society, Bahrain Public Relations Associations, Bahrain Transparency Society, National Institution for Human Rights, Al Marsad Society for Human Rights, Ma'an" Society for Human Rights, Mabadea Society for Human Rights, and Bahrain Zakhar Society.

Israel: West Bank

Andrew Selous: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment he has made of the implications for his Department's policies of reports that Israel will retrospectively legalise outposts in the West Bank; and if he will make a statement.

David Rutley: We are clear that settlements are illegal under international law and threaten the viability of a Two State Solution. The UK urges the Government of Israel to permanently end its settlement expansion and settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. Israeli outposts in the West Bank are also illegal under international and Israeli law, and should be removed entirely.

Abdulhadi al-Khawaja and Abduljalil al-Singace

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answers of 13 December 2022 to Question 102990 and Question 102991, if he will provide the most recent date upon which the cases of (a) Abdulhadi AlKhawaja and (b) Abduljalil AlSingace were raised with the government of Bahrain.

David Rutley: The UK continues to follow developments on matters that relate to human rights within Bahrain. Our close and long-standing ties with Bahrain allow UK Ministers and senior officials to raise sensitive human rights issues, including cases, regularly, privately and effectively. The cases in question were raised at an officials meeting in December 2022.

Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, how many FTE staff have been allocated to the Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation in each of the last two financial years; and what the (a) budget and (b) spend has been for that office in each of those years.

Leo Docherty: The requested data covers the period of the merger of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) with the Department for International Development (DFID) including a period pre-dating the formation of the Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (OCSM). OCSM was formed from the cross-Government Stabilisation Unit (SU) and departments from FCO and DFID and was formally launched in February 2022. Full data is therefore only available for financial year 2021-22. For security reasons the Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office provides staffing numbers in banded (approximate) ranges.In financial year 2021-22, the Office for Conflict, Stabilisation and Mediation (OCSM) held between 90 and 99 staff on Full Time Equivalent (FTE) contracts. The actual spend for that period was £7.3million and the staffing budget was £8.8 million.

Kazakhstan: Russia

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with the President of Kazakhstan on helping to ensure that Kazakhstan is not used to evade Russian sanctions.

Leo Docherty: The Foreign Secretary has not spoken to the President of Kazakhstan. However, on 20 December we will host a Strategic Dialogue with Foreign Minister Tileuberdi, where we will discuss all aspects of UK-Kazakhstan cooperation, including the response to Russia's war in Ukraine, and sanctions against Russia. The UK is committed to ensuring that third countries are not used by Russia to evade sanctions. We regularly underline our support for Kazakhstan's compliance with international sanctions, and welcome remarks made by Kazakh Government officials regarding their stance against circumvention.

Ukraine: Nuclear Power Stations

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with Ukrainian officials and officials on the IAEA regarding claims that Russian occupiers at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant are denying employees access to the site who refused to sign contracts with the Russian State Atomic Energy Corporation Rosatom.

Leo Docherty: The UK is supporting the efforts of Ukraine and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to address the safety and security of Zaporzhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (ZNPP). I [The Minister for Europe] spoke to the IAEA Director General on 2 December. The Foreign Secretary spoke to him on 15 November. UK Government officials have regular exchanges with their counterparts in Ukraine, the IAEA and the G7. Ukrainian staff at the ZNPP must be able to carry out their duties without threats or pressure and we will continue to use all political and diplomatic channels to insist Russia withdraws its forces and returns control of nuclear facilities to Ukraine.

Transcaucasus: Roads

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had discussions with his Azerbaijani counterpart on the blockage of the only road connecting Armenia to Artsakh (Nagorno Karabakh) by Azerbaijanis, and the potential humanitarian implications of the situation.

Leo Docherty: The UK Government has made clear that blocking the Lachin corridor and disrupting gas supplies in winter risk severe humanitarian consequences. We continue to urge the governments of both Azerbaijan and Armenia to abide by all ceasefire commitments in good faith. This is consistent with our support for international efforts to facilitate a sustainable and peaceful settlement to the conflict. I [Minister for Europe] have reinforced this position in my calls with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Foreign Ministers in September, in recent meetings with senior officials from both capitals, and in my meetings in London with the Armenian and Azerbaijani Ambassadors to the UK.

Maria Kalesnikava

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he has had recent discussions with representatives of the Belarussian opposition on the hospitalisation of Maryya Kalesnikava.

Leo Docherty: On 30 November, I [Minister for Europe] issued a public statement of support for Marya Kalesnikava and her family, calling on the Belarusian authorities to provide appropriate care to Marya and to release all political prisoners. HMG maintains contact with members of the Belarusian democratic opposition in exile, the then Foreign Secretary met Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya during her visit to London in March 2022, with the plight of Belarusian political prisoners a shared priority. Marya Kalesnikava's condition was discussed at a recent OSCE side event attended by Sviatlana Tsikhanovskaya and representatives of the UK Government.

Belarus: Russia

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what discussions he has had with his international counterparts about the consequences for his policies of recent meetings in Belarus between Russian and Belorussian military officials.

Leo Docherty: The Foreign Secretary is in regular contact with international partners on all aspects of Russia's illegal war in Ukraine. Discussions with partners frequently consider the role of the Lukashenko regime in providing support to Putin's unprovoked and illegal war in Ukraine.The UK Government condemns Lukashenko's collaboration with Russia and takes every opportunity to remind the Belarusian regime that there will be serious consequences if they become more directly involved in Russia's war. We also urge Belarus to re-consider its 'grouping of forces' with Russia in southern Belarus, which risks escalating regional instability.

Northern Ireland Protocol

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what progress he has made in negotiations with the EU on the Northern Ireland Protocol since October.

Leo Docherty: The Government is engaging in constructive dialogue with the EU to find shared solutions to problems caused by the Northern Ireland Protocol. The current technical discussions between UK and EU officials are a positive step forward. However, significant gaps remain between our positions. It remains our preference to resolve this through talks - but the situation in Northern Ireland is urgent, and we have therefore brought forward the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill to address these issues.The Foreign Secretary most recently met Vice-President of the European Commission Maroš Šefčovič on Thursday 15 December, and both they and officials continue to remain in touch. The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland has had regular contact with Northern Ireland stakeholders throughout this process.

European Parliament Members: Lobbying

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, whether he will ask the President of the European Parliament to launch a full EU-wide investigation into the arrests of former and existing Members of the European Parliament for illegal lobbying activity; and if he will make a statement.

Leo Docherty: The Government is aware of the ongoing investigations by Belgian authorities into allegations of corruption relating to existing and former members and staff of the European Parliament. The President of the European Parliament has publicly stated that the European Parliament is cooperating with relevant national law enforcement and judicial authorities in support of their investigations and has committed to "an internal investigation to look at all the facts related to the Parliament."

Academic Technology Approval Scheme

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 18 October 2022 to Question 62964 on Academic Technology Approval Scheme: Oxford East, by when his Department plans to help tackle the delay in processing applications to the Academic Technology Approval Scheme within published timescales.

Leo Docherty: The UK takes seriously its responsibility towards countering the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and advanced conventional military technology. The Academic Technology Approval Scheme is a thorough, necessary and proportionate tool to protect UK research from misappropriation and divergence to military programmes of concern. The majority of applications are processed within published timescales. A small percentage of complex cases remain outside target processing times and our teams are working to clear them as soon as possible. The ATAS IT system is being updated before the summer surge next year, which will improve processing rates.

Ghana: Hygiene

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Water Aid’s hand washing programme in Ghana.

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what recent estimate his Department has made of the proportion of the population in (a) rural and (b) urban areas of Ghana who have immediate access to piped water systems.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: WaterAid is an active partner in delivering outcomes for vulnerable people under the Hygiene and Behaviour Change Coalition (HBCC). Between April 2020 and October 2021, WaterAid in Ghana helped deliver 25,000 bars of soap and 3,000 hygiene kits; trained 177 Community Health Workers in Covid-19 prevention and to promote handwashing; and installed 95 handwashing in health care facilities. The HBCC partners reported that between 57 per cent and 98 per cent of the targeted population in 14 countries were practicing handwashing with soap at five critical times to help prevent illness after the intervention.Ghana conducted a population and housing census in 2021 - for which the UK's Office of National Statistics provided technical support. As of 2021, 32 per cent of Ghana's population is using piped water. Further progress is still needed to close the gap between rural and urban populations, respectively at 29 per cent and 34 per cent.

Ghana: Corruption

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the level of financial corruption in Ghana.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Accordingly to the 2022 Afrobarometer survey, the majority of Ghanaians (77 per cent) believe corruption has increased in recent times, compared to 2019 (53 per cent). In 2021, Ghana ranked 73rd out of 180 countries in Transparency International's corruption perception index (CPI). The UK will continue to work with international partners in support of open, transparent and accountable governance.

Mozambique: Renewable Energy

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the involvement of British International Investment and Globeleq in Central Térmica de Temane, whether his Department took steps to support the Mozambique government in negotiating additional access to the renewable power from the Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa hydroelectric dam for the domestic market.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Government of Mozambique has strong ambition to provide universal access to energy by 2030. The Temane project is central to Mozambique's energy transition. There is a recognition from the Government that for Mozambique to reach that universal target by 2030, the country would need to consider other sources of energy that are affordable, and not solely rely on the Cahora Bassa dam generated energy, which also has high costs associated with grid densification infrastructure. That is why the Government has made some progress in the last year with other energy projects, including the Temane Project, and expanding the off-grid solar renewables projects.The Temane project is in line with the country's decarbonisation pathway to net zero by 2050. The Temane project's flexible technological operating configuration and the interconnecting transmission line allows for greater penetration of intermittent renewables across Mozambique's grids over time. Temane is technologically capable - from day one - to blend green hydrogen fuel into its fuel mix when that becomes available.There has been no specific engagement with the Government of Mozambique to support additional access to renewable power from the Hidroeléctrica de Cahora Bassa hydroelectric dam.

Mozambique: Renewable Energy

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, with reference to the involvement of British International Investment and Globeleq in Central Térmica de Temane (CTT), what assessment he has made of the price the Mozambique state utility company EDM will pay for power from CTT.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: The Temane gas project is a project developed and invested in by Globeleq, an experienced developer of power projects across Africa, of which British International Investment is the majority shareholder.Prior to investing in Temane, Globeleq undertook due diligence and an evaluation of the commercial terms negotiated and agreed with the state-owned company 'Source Energia and Electricidade de Moçambique' (EDM). The power purchase agreement signed between the project company and EDM is commercially confidential.

Mozambique: Renewable Energy

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Affairs, pursuant to British International Investment's funding for Globeleq Limited, what assessment she has made of the effectiveness of Globeleq Limited's projects on the transition to renewable energy in Mozambique.

Mr Andrew Mitchell: Globeleq has supported the financing of a number of African power projects, including the ground-breaking Cuamba solar (plus battery) storage project and the Temane gas fired power project, both in Mozambique.The Temane project is central to Mozambique's energy transition. When operational, the Temane project is expected to meet the electricity needs of 1.5 million Mozambicans and support the creation of 14,000 jobs. It will provide reliable, dispatchable power for baseload, with the ability to transition to a 'peaking role' as more renewables become available.The project's flexible technological operating configuration and the interconnecting transmission line allows for greater penetration of intermittent renewables across Mozambique's grids over time. This includes the pioneering Cuamba project (cited above), under construction by Globeleq, which is one of the first utility scale solar projects in Africa capable of storing energy, paving the way for wider uptake of renewable power. In addition, Temane is technologically capable - from day one - to blend green hydrogen fuel into its fuel mix when that becomes available.

Ministry of Defence

Armed Forces: Charities

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what services his Department procured from armed forces charities in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what was the value of services his Department procured from armed forces charities was in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: This information is not held centrally and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Forces Help to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether he plans to extend the Forces Help to Buy scheme beyond 31 December 2022.

Dr Andrew Murrison: The Forces Help to Buy (FHTB) scheme was set up in 2014 to provide Service personnel with the opportunity to purchase a property for immediate occupation, creating a stable environment regardless of assignment and reducing the challenge presented by an inherently mobile career. The Ministry of Defence recognises that FHTB continues to be a popular scheme, helping more than 27,500 Service personnel to buy or extend a home. An announcement was made on Monday 19 December confirming that the FHTB scheme has been made permanent. The announcement can be found at the below link. Forces Help to Buy scheme made permanent to help Service Personnel purchase housing - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Defence Transition Services and Veterans Welfare Service

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what step-by-step support pathways are available to veterans and their families seeking assistance from the (a) Veterans Welfare Service and (b) Defence Transition Services.

Dr Andrew Murrison: Veterans Welfare Service and Defence Transition Service conduct a holistic assessment of needs for each referral received via phone, email or letter. From this assessment the most relevant support is identified and either the individual is signposted to the appropriate support organisation, or a referral is made on their behalf. The are no formally laid out, step-by-step support pathways used by either service as support is tailored to each case and each individual.

Veterans: Immigration

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-UK service personnel in the Army have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK following (a) 6 years of service and (b) being medically discharged in the last 6 months.

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many non-UK service personnel in the Army have been granted Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK after applying outside the 2-year time limit, following (a) 6 years of service and (b) being medically discharged in the last 6 months.

Dr Andrew Murrison: All applications for Indefinite Leave to Remain in the UK are submitted to the Home Office. The Ministry of Defence does not hold information about the number of applications submitted or granted, including any submitted or granted since the fee waiver was implemented on 6 April 2022 to Serving personnel on discharge or to undocumented veterans living in the UK.

Defence Transition Services: Finance

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget allocated to Veterans UK to deliver transition services was in 2021-22.

Rachel Hopkins: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the budget allocated to Veterans UK to deliver veteran welfare services was in 2921-22.

Dr Andrew Murrison: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 28 November to Question 90739. Budgets are allocated within Defence Business Services at the delivery of veterans’ services level. It is not possible to break this information down to individual services. Veterans Welfare Service: Finance (docx, 23.7KB)

Permanent Joint Headquarters: Staff

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many personnel are working at Permanent Joint Headquarters.

James Heappey: As of 30 November, 567 military and Civil Service personnel work at the Permanent Joint Headquarters.

Permanent Joint Headquarters

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what operations are being run out of Permanent Joint Headquarters.

James Heappey: Enduring operational deployments which are commanded by Permanent Joint Headquarters (PJHQ) are as follows: RegionOperationOverviewEuropeOp CABRITThe deployment of an enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup to Estonia.Op ELGINThe UK’s commitment to the stability and security of the Western Balkans, as well as to supporting the Euro-Atlantic aspirations of countries in the region.Op ORBITALThe UK’s training mission to Ukraine.Op TOSCAUN Peacekeeping mission in Cyprus.PJHQ also command the deployment of Sky Sabre air defence into Poland. AfricaOp NEWCOMBEThe UK contribution to MINUSMA (UN Peacekeeping mission) in Mali.Op TURUSThe UK’s provision of security, humanitarian, and development support to Nigeria.Op TANGHAMThe UK support to African Union peace enforcement operations and UN missions in Somalia.Indo-Asia PacificOp WOODWALLThe deployment of two British Warships (Offshore Patrol Vessels) in the Indo-Asia Pacific.Broader Middle EastOp SHADERCounter Daesh mission.Op KIPIONUK maritime presence in the Gulf and Indian Ocean.Op CROSSWAYSOperational capacity building with KSA.

Military Aid: Fire and Rescue Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December to Question 100891 on Military Aid: Fire Services, how many Armed Forces personnel he plans to be (a) deployed and (b) on standby for this Military Aid for Civilian Authority  request; and how many of those are (i) full-time personnel and (ii) reservists.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence has agreed to a request for 80 professional military firefighters. These full-time military personnel are available to be deployed in the event of industrial action being called in order to bolster the Fire and Rescue Service's contingency plans.

UK Border Force: Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answers of 5 December to Question 93455 UK Border Force: Military Aid and of 22 November to Question 86666 on Military Aid, what tasks Armed Forces personnel were asked to carry out as part of the 63 approved Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests; and how many Armed Forces personnel were deployed as part of those requests.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer I gave him on 14 December 2022 to Question 108078.DHSC + Home Office; Military Aid (docx, 23.6KB)

USA: Nuclear Weapons

Bell Ribeiro-Addy: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the US B61-12 is able to operate as a GPS guided bomb; for what reason it is to be deployed in NATO bases in Europe; and whether he has had recent discussions with his US counterparts about the deployment of B61-12 at RAF Lakenheath.

James Heappey: The Ministry of Defence is unable to comment on the capabilities of US nuclear weapons, which is a matter for the US Government.To guarantee the security of its NATO Allies, the United States has deployed a limited number of B-61 nuclear weapons to certain locations in Europe. These remain under US custody and control in full compliance with the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons.It remains longstanding UK and NATO policy to neither confirm nor deny the presence of nuclear weapons at a given location.

Military Aid

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 100894 on Military Aid, how many Military Aid to Civilian Authority requests his Department (a) received and (b) approved in (i) November and (ii) December 2022.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon.Member to the answers I gave him on 17 November and 8 December 2022 to Questions 86646 and 100894 respectively.Military Aid (docx, 26.9KB)

Military Aid: Ambulance Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many Armed Forces personnel are being (a) deployed and (b) placed on standby to cover the Ambulance Service as part of a Military Aid to Civilian Authority request from the Department of Health and Social Care; and how many of those are (i) full time personnel and (ii) reservists.

James Heappey: I refer the right hon. Member to the answers I gave on 15 December 2022 to Questions 108077 and 108381. These roles are being fulfilled by full-time military personnel.Military Aid: Industrial Disputes (docx, 23.0KB)

Military Aid: Fire and Rescue Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December to Question 100891 on Military Aid: Fire Services, when his Department approved this Military Aid to Civilian Authority request.

James Heappey: The request for 80 professional firefighters was agreed on 14 November.

Military Aid: Fire and Rescue Services

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 12 December to Question 100891 on Military Aid: Fire Services, when he expects this Military Aid to Civilian Authority request to be completed.

James Heappey: The Fire Brigades Union is currently holding its ballot, meaning the likely strike window would be between 13 February and 23 July 2023.

RAF Valley: Noise

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what recent assessment he has made of levels of noise pollution from Texan training planes flying over Arfon; and what recent steps he has taken to reduce noise disruption.

Alex Chalk: The Texan aircraft complies fully with relevant international aviation noise standards.Arfon lies fully under the North Wales Military Training Area which provides valuable and regularly used training airspace for RAF Valley and other military aerodromes. This training area offers specific advantages in terms of scale, terrain and deconfliction from other airspace users that meet many essential training requirements for the RAF and the Texan fleet.However, the Station plans the use of this airspace carefully, and works closely with the Texan Squadron to distribute training as equitably and fairly as possible. A significant proportion of Texan flying is undertaken in other areas, where these provide suitable conditions to meet essential training objectives, including overwater areas in order to minimise disturbance to local communities and ease the congestion within the North Wales Military Training Area.

Typhoon Aircraft

Chris Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, pursuant to the Answer of 3 November 2022 to Question 19681 on Typhoon Aircraft, whether his Department plans to reassess the retirement of the Tranche 1 Typhoon aircraft in the context of (a) its remaining airframe fatigue life and (b) the war in Ukraine.

Alex Chalk: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to him on 12 December 2022 to Question 105283.The hon. Member may wish to note that Question 19681 was answered on 21 June 2022 rather than 3 November 2022.Typhoon Aircraft (docx, 21.7KB)Typhoon Aircraft (docx, 16.5KB)

Shipbuilding: Contracts

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the National Shipbuilding Office has made an estimate of the value of Government shipbuilding contracts which have been awarded to overseas firms since that office was set up.

Alex Chalk: Since the launch of the National Shipbuilding Office in September 2021, the UK Government has announced around £4.34 billion in shipbuilding contracts, with £4.28 billion going to UK companies and £59.3 million going to those based overseas: ProgrammeContract TypeValueShipyardNotesNavyX, Ministry of DefenceProcurement - off the shelf vessel (international competition)£7.5 million Overseas £2 million to UK companies for conversionAwarded to Damen Shipyards (Netherlands) on 10 February 2022Vessel not included on 30 Year Cross-Government Shipbuilding Pipeline in the National Shipbuilding Strategy RefreshQueen Elizabeth Class Docking, Ministry of DefenceSupport (UK-only competition)£34 millionAwarded to Babcock (UK) on 15 March 2022 Type 26 Batch 2, Ministry of DefenceBuild (single source)£4.2 billionAwarded to BAE Systems (UK) on 15 November 2022 Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Department for Business, Energy and Industrial StrategySupport (international competition)£45 millionAwarded to Babcock (UK) on 10 December 2022 Northern Lighthouse Board, General Lighthouse Authority, Department for Transport (DfT)Build (international competition)£51.8 million via a DfT loan which will be repaid via Light Dues, with interest and no call on the UK ExchequerAwarded to Astilleros Gondán S.A (Spain) on 12 December 2022Includes £2 million of contracts with UK Supply ChainThe table does not include Fleet Solid Ships as the contract has not been awarded, but as previously announced the Preferred Bidder is Team Resolute comprised of Navantia UK, Harland & Wolff and BMT.The table covers central Government shipbuilding and repair contracts and those of Arms Length Bodies in line with the National Shipbuilding Office’s review, and does not include local council contracts.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many compensation payments have been made out to armed forces personnel and their families for issues relating to (a) single living accommodation and (b) service family accommodation.

Alex Chalk: Information for compensation payments for Single Living Accommodation is not held centrally. 5,322 compensation payments (in the form of vouchers) have been made since 1 April 2022 for issues relating to Service Family Accommodation.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the average wait time was for emergency repairs by Pinnacle for families of armed forces personnel living in service family accommodation in the 2021-22 financial year.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many and what proportion of boilers (a) repaired and (b) replaced by Pinnacle in service family accommodation required further (i) repair and (ii) replacement within three months of the initial work.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many boilers were (a) repaired and (b) replaced by Pinnacle in service family accommodation in November 2022.

Alex Chalk: This information is not held. Maintenance tasks in relation to Service Family Accommodation are not undertaken by Pinnacle. Maintenance tasks are undertaken by Amey or Vivo and recorded under a single general category of heating/hot water/boiler, which does not specify the component requiring work. Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO) operates a three strike boiler programme, in that, if a boiler is over 10 years old and fails three times in 12 months it is replaced on the third fail. Approximately 2,500 boilers are replaced annually within SFA either through the 3 Strike Programme or Project upgrades.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many people are employed by Pinnacle Group’s National Service Centre to deal with enquiries and complaints on Service Family Accommodation.

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he expects the Pinnacle Group to increase staff numbers at the National Service Centre’s Customer Solutions team to 56.

Alex Chalk: Pinnacle’s National Service Centre, which comprises the Repairs Helpdesk, Enquiries and Customer Solutions team, currently employs a total of 84 people. Pinnacle is increasing staffing of the National Service Centre’s Customer Solutions team from an initial 14 to 56 staff, at present there are 40 staff in the National Service Centre’s Customer Solutions team.

Armed Forces: Housing

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many complaints his Department has received about Pinnacle Group’s management of service family accommodation since March 2022.

Alex Chalk: Due to the format in which complaints data is recorded, the information requested can only be provided at disproportionate cost. However, there are currently a total of 3,089 complaints logged against all the Future Defence Infrastructure Service suppliers.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Shipbuilding

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the response from the Minister for Defence Procurement to the Rt hon. Member for Wentworth and Dearne on 12 December, if he will provide a breakdown of the 2,000 jobs in UK (a) shipyards and (b) supply chains which will be created through the Fleet Solid Support Ship contract.

Alex Chalk: The Fleet Solid Support ship contract will create a significant number of new jobs, including around 1,200 high quality manufacturing jobs at Harland & Wolff's sites. It is expected that around 800 jobs will be sustained in the UK supply-chain for equipment, design and support services.

Team Resolute: Contracts

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, on what date Harland &amp; Wolff was notified that Team Resolute had been selected as the preferred bidder for the Fleet Solid Support Ship contract.

Alex Chalk: Team Resolute, including Harland & Wolff, was formally notified of its appointment as preferred bidder on 15 November 2022.

Warships: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the (a) in service and (b) out of service dates are for the (i) Type 23 frigate programme, (ii) Type 26 frigate programme, (iii) Type 32 frigate programme, (iv) Type 45 destroyer programme and (v) Type 83 destroyer programme.

Alex Chalk: On current plans, the last Type 23 frigate will transition out of service in 2035 while all ships of the Type 26 Class are expected to enter service between 2028 and 2035. Current planning assumptions are for the Type 32 frigates to enter service over a period of three years commencing in 2032.It is expected that the last Type 45 destroyer will transition out of service in 2038. The Future Air Dominance System, which is still at the programme pre-concept phase, but is likely to include the Type 83, will replace the Type 45 in line with its out of service dates.

Maritime UK

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, how many hours officials in the (a) Royal Navy, (b) Royal Fleet Auxiliary and (c) National Shipbuilding Office worked to (i) attend and (ii) support the policy agenda of the National Council of Maritime UK to date.

Alex Chalk: Maritime UK is an important institution for the maritime sector bringing together maritime industries, driving business growth and raising the UK maritime profile both at home and abroad.Both the Assistant Chief of Naval Staff (ACNS) and Commodore Royal Fleet Auxiliary (RFA) are observer members of the National Council of Maritime UK. ACNS and an RFA officer attend the quarterly National Council Meetings and an RFA Officer joins Maritime UK for approximately 6 -10 Maritime networking events annually with ACNS in occasional attendance. In addition, the RFA have a full time Officer embedded in Maritime UK. More widely, RN and RFA officials engage regularly with Maritime UK members as part of their daily business.The CEO and Deputy Director of the NSO have attended previous meetings of the Maritime UK National Council as invited guests to update on the National Shipbuilding Strategy Refresh and the work of the NSO. NSO officials engage regularly with Maritime UK members on a wide range of shipbuilding matters.Given the wide range of engagement with Maritime UK, at both desk level and above, it is not possible to quantify this in hours.

Team Resolute: Contracts

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, when he plans a Fleet Solid Support Ship contract will be signed with Team Resolute.

Alex Chalk: I refer the right.hon Member to the answer given in response to Question 88827 on 22 November 2022.Fleet Solid Support Ships: Contracts (docx, 21.4KB)

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Procurement

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what the expected (a) in service and (b) out of service date is for the Fleet Solid Support Ships programme.

Alex Chalk: On current plans, the Fleet Solid Support Ships are expected to be in operational service by 2032 and have a service life of thirty years.

Fleet Solid Support Ships: Iron and Steel

Mr Kevan Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether the design by Team Resolute will use only UK steel for the Fleet Solid Support ships.

Alex Chalk: I refer the right hon. Member to the answer that I gave him on 30 November 2022 to Question number 93475.Fleet Solid Support Ships: Iron and Steel (docx, 22.9KB)

Department for Work and Pensions

Department for Work and Pensions: Written Questions

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when he will respond to Question 104134 tabled on 6 December 2022 by the right hon. Member for Wentworth and Deane.

Guy Opperman: I refer the Right Honourable Gentleman to the answer given to his specific question given on the 14th December 2022.For the avoidance of doubt please see the answer as follows:Answered on 14 December 2022The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) started collecting data on the Armed Forces status of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in Great Britain (GB) in April 2021. At first only new claimants were asked about their Armed Forces status. From June 2021 onwards, other UC claimants reporting changes in their work and earnings have also been able to report their status. From July 2021 onwards, UC agents have also been able to record claimants’ Armed Forces status if they are told about this via other means such as journal messages, face-to-face meetings or by telephone.Data coverage continues to improve over time and by September 2022 data was held on the armed forces status of approximately 54% of the GB UC caseload (see table below). It should be noted that Armed forces status is self-reported by claimants and is not verified by the Ministry of Defence or Office for Veterans’ Affairs. A claimant’s status can be recorded as “currently serving”, “served in the past”, “not served” or “prefer not to say”. Data is not collected on the specific branch of the Armed Forces that claimants are serving in or have served in in the past.Data is not held on the total number of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past, but data is held on those who have identified themselves so far.The way the data is collected means the claimants for whom an Armed Forces status is recorded are not representative of the UC caseload as a whole. This means it is not yet possible to produce reliable estimates of the overall number or proportion of UC claimants who are currently serving in the Armed Forces or who have served in the past.Increases in the numbers of claimants with a recorded status of “currently serving” or “served in the past” do not necessarily mean the overall numbers of claimants who are currently serving or have served in the past have increased and may reflect increases in the number of claimants for whom data is held as data coverage improves over time.The table below shows the proportion of the GB UC caseload with a recorded Armed Forces status. It also shows how many claimants on the caseload had a recorded status of each type.GB UC caseload by recorded Armed Forces statusUC caseload monthProportion of caseload with a recorded statusCurrently servingServed in the pastNot servedPrefer not to saySeptember 202254%3,20041,4003,002,50022,400Notes:1. Data is not collected on the Armed Forces status of UC claimants in Northern Ireland. The figures provided only relate to Great Britain.2. Percentages are rounded to the nearest percent and numbers are rounded to the nearest hundred.3. Figures may be subject to retrospective changes as more up-to-date data becomes available or if methodological improvements are made.4. Due to methodological improvements, these figures are based on the Official Statistics UC caseload definition. Some previous figures have used an alternative caseload definition based on assessment period end dates.5. Further information on the caseload definition used for the UC official statistics can be found on Stat-Xplore: https://stat-xplore.dwp.gov.uk/’

Jobcentres: Pay

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average annual salary of a Jobcentre work coach in this financial year.

Mims Davies: Jobcentre Work Coaches are recruited to DWP’s Executive Officer (EO) grade. Following DWP’s 2022 pay award implemented in July, salaries for DWP’s EO Generalist grade are as follows. For employees on DWP’s modernised Terms and Conditions: EOMinMaxNational£28,117£28,117Special Location Pay Zones£28,117£30,121Outer London£31,284£32,515Inner London£32,515£32,515  For employees on DWP’s legacy Terms and Conditions: EOMinMaxNational£23,700£26,647Special Location Pay Zones£24,735£29,123Outer London£24,824£29,635Inner London£26,329£30,933

Pension Credit

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness on eligibility for and access to Pension Credit.

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of the number of pensioners in (a) Liverpool and (b) Liverpool, West Derby constituency who are entitled to Pension Credit and are not claiming it.

Ian Byrne: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help pensioners in Liverpool, West Derby constituency to (a) have access to information about their eligibility for and (b) access Pension Credit.

Laura Trott: Estimates for Pension Credit take-up are only available at the Great Britain level. The latest statistics (2019/20) are in the publication:Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)Pension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Liverpool, West Derby some 3,600 pensioners already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up. The campaign included:promotion of Pension Credit on social media, via internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit;information screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries across GB;advertising in regional and national newspapers and on national and local broadcast radio;advertising on the sides of buses, interior bus panels and digital street displays;leaflets and posters in Jobcentres, as well as digital versions which could be used by stakeholders and partners across local communities;engagement with Local Authorities nationwide through the Government Communication Service local network and promotional materials to enable them to support the campaign;an updated digital toolkit with information and resources that any stakeholder can use to help promote Pension Credit; anda second Pension Credit awareness media ‘day of action’ in June working in close collaboration with broadcasters, newspapers and other partners such as Age UK, Independent Age and the private sector to reach out to pensioners to promote Pension Credit through their channels. This month we undertook a further burst of communications activity, including press and radio advertising and social media to highlight to pensioners that if they applied for Pension Credit by 18 December, it would not be too late to qualify for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – subject to Pension Credit backdating rules. On 7 December, around 40 MPs attended a Pension Credit event at Portcullis House which I hosted. I was pleased to hear about the work that a number of MPs are already doing to help their constituents make a claim and also that others pledged to help promote Pension Credit. In the new year, DWP will again write to over 11 million pensioners as part of the annual uprating of State Pension. The accompanying leaflet has been updated to include this year’s campaign messaging promoting Pension Credit. Further spend of £1.8m has been approved for marketing activity until the end of this financial year.

Cost of Living Payments

Liz Twist: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the number of people who are eligible for both the (a) £650 Cost of Living Payment and (b) £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment.

Mims Davies: I refer the honourable Member to the answer given to PQ97604.

Department for Work and Pensions: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to his Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for August 2021, for what purpose two payments totalling £11,987.74 were made to British Airways on 6 August 2021.

Mims Davies: The purpose of the two payments totalling £11,987.74 was for overseas travel.Both payments were for Business Class flights to the 2021 Paralympic Games.

Cost of Living Payments: Low Incomes

Beth Winter: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of extending the Cost of Living Payment to low-income households receiving contributory or new style social security benefits.

Mims Davies: No such assessment has been made in respect of the 2022/23 Cost of Living Payments.The Cost of Living Payment is targeted at low income households who are in receipt of a means-tested income replacement benefits. Contribution-based and new style benefits are not means tested benefits and therefore do not qualify for the Cost of Living Payment. Low income households may be entitled to Universal Credit and Contribution based or new style benefits at the same time, and therefore will be entitled to a cost of living payment. We will be bringing forward legislation for the 2023/24 Cost of Living Payments in due course.

Women's Centres: Capital Investment

Ellie Reeves: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made for the implications of his policies of the Women in Prison’s report on the Value of Women’s Centres which noted that investing in Women's Centres could generate a nearly triple return on investment; and if his Department would contribute to a cross-departmental fund for such an investment.

Mims Davies: The Government appreciates the important role women’s centres play in supporting women in the community with complex needs, including supporting ex-offenders to address the underlying causes of their behaviour, as set out in this report.The benefits of work for ex-offenders are far reaching and that is why DWP already invests significant funding for over 200 prison Work Coaches who provide employment and benefit support in prisons. Our extensive network of Jobcentre Work Coaches also provide tailored employment support to ex-offenders in the community.The Ministry of Justice is investing up to £24 million in women’s community services that aim to both support the sector in delivering vital services and to promote better local integration in how those services are delivered. The effectiveness of their funding for women’s community services will be evaluated and inform future funding decisions across Government.

Jobcentres: Operating Costs

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate he has made of the average annual running costs of a Jobcentre in the most recent financial year for which this data is available.

Mims Davies: No estimate has been made of an average running cost for a Jobcentre. There are 639 traditional Jobcentres servicing different areas in size and scope. Annual IT and Estates costs for these locations are accounted for centrally and are not charged to individual job centres.

Department for Work and Pensions: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what his Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

Mims Davies: The total spent by the Department for Work and Pensions on items with a value of less than £500 on a Government Procurement card in 2021 was £36,488,921.81. Source: GPC Transactions Folder - Discoverer

Pension Credit: Ilford North

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to improve take-up of Pension Credit in Ilford North constituency.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many people are claiming Pension Credit in (a) Ilford North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Redbridge.

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate his Department has made of people eligible for but not claiming Pension Credit in (a) Ilford North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Redbridge.

Laura Trott: Estimates for Pension Credit take-up are only available at the Great Britain level. The latest statistics (2019/20) are in the publication:Income-related benefits: estimates of take-up: financial year 2019 to 2020 - GOV.UKPension Credit provides vital financial support to pensioners on a low income. In Ilford North some 2,300 pensioners and 6,200 in the London Borough of Redbridge already receive Pension Credit, but we want all those who are eligible to claim it. That’s why the Department launched a £1.2m nationwide communications campaign in April to raise awareness of Pension Credit and increase take-up. The campaign included:promotion of Pension Credit on social media, via internet search engines and sponsored advertising on targeted websites that pensioners, their friends and family are likely to visit;information screens in Post Offices and GP surgeries across Great Britain;advertising in regional and national newspapers and on national and local broadcast radio;advertising on the sides of buses, interior bus panels and digital street displays;leaflets and posters in Jobcentres, as well as digital versions which could be used by stakeholders and partners across local communities;engagement with Local Authorities nationwide through the Government Communication Service local network and promotional materials to enable them to support the campaign;an updated digital toolkit with information and resources that any stakeholder can use to help promote Pension Credit; anda second Pension Credit awareness media ‘day of action’ in June working in close collaboration with broadcasters, newspapers and other partners such as Age UK, Independent Age and the private sector to reach out to pensioners to promote Pension Credit through their channels. This month we undertook a further burst of communications activity, including press and radio advertising and social media to highlight to pensioners that if they applied for Pension Credit by 18 December, it would not be too late to qualify for a £324 Cost of Living Payment – subject to Pension Credit backdating rules. On 7 December, around 40 MPs attended a Pension Credit event at Portcullis House which I hosted. I was pleased to hear about the work that a number of MPs are already doing to help their constituents make a claim and also that others pledged to help promote Pension Credit. In the new year, DWP will write to over 11 million pensioners to notify them of the up-rating of their State Pensions. As last year, a leaflet accompanying the notification includes information promoting Pension Credit. This has been updated to include a more prominent ‘call to action’ using the Pension Credit campaign messaging to encourage eligible pensioners to make a claim. Further spend of £1.8m has been approved for marketing activity until the end of this financial year.

Work Capability Assessment: Redbridge

Wes Streeting: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for a Work Capability Assessment in (a) Ilford North constituency and (b) the London Borough of Redbridge in the latest period for which data is available.

Tom Pursglove: The information requested is not readily available and to provide it would incur disproportionate cost. DWP publishes Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) Work Capability Assessment (WCA) national processing times for initial claims on GOV.UK, which can be found here. We are currently unable to provide Universal Credit (UC) WCA statistics as these could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Social Security Benefits: Appeals

Kate Osamor: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 20 October 2022 to Question 63289 on Social Security Benefits: Appeals, how many mandatory reconsiderations have been requested following a decision made under the Risk Review Process; and of those how many have (a) been completed and (b) resulted in a change of decision.

Tom Pursglove: Since 4th July 2022, when collation of mandatory reconsideration figures commenced under the Risk Review process, there have been 499 mandatory reconsiderations. 346 of which have been completed to outcome, with 2 resulting in a change of decision, which includes 1 being partially revised and 1 being fully revised.

Universal Credit: Disability

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the increasing cost of living does not disproportionately impact disabled people receiving Universal Credit.

Tom Pursglove: The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022- March 2023, will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what energy prices would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to the over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year, which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households, provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme.In 2023/24, the Government is protecting the most vulnerable in society, many of whom face the biggest challenge making their incomes stretch, by increasing benefits in line with inflation. This means that they will rise by September Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation – 10.1%. Uprating working age and disability benefits will cost £11bn next year. More than 10 million working age families will see their benefit payments rise from April 2023. To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In 2023/24, households on eligible means-tested benefits will get up to a further £900 in Cost of Living Payments. Individuals in receipt of eligible disability benefits will also receive a £150 payment. Also included is the amended Energy Price Guarantee which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24. For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England, this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

Social Security Benefits: Overpayments

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an estimate of the total amount recovered in benefit overpayments as a result of claimants dying in financial year 2021-22.

Tom Pursglove: The estimated amount recovered in benefit overpayments as a result of claimants dying in the financial year 2021-22 was £63 million.

Pensions Ombudsman

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what the average waiting time was for the Pensions Ombudsman to respond to enquiries in the latest period for which data is available; and if he will set a timetable for reducing those waiting times.

Laura Trott: The Pensions Ombudsman (TPO) has seen an increase in demand for its services in recent years from people with complaints about their occupational or personal pension schemes. The organisation has continued to perform strongly against its key performance indicators, as set out in the 2021/22 Annual Report and Accounts. In 2020/21 TPO resolved 99 per cent of its general enquiries within 28 days of being logged on TPO’s system, compared to a target of 90 per cent, and closed 74 per cent of total pension complaints within 12 months, against a target of 70 per cent. Additional funding was provided to TPO as part of the 2021 Spending Review to recruit additional staff to clear adjudication cases. Data shows TPO productivity increased by 14% across the last two years and it is working to bring down waiting times further.

Child Maintenance Service

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent steps he has taken to (a) review and (b) improve the accuracy of the decision making process at the Child Maintenance Service.

Mims Davies: The DWP manages quality through the DWP Quality Assurance Framework, conducting three separate tiers of quality assurance, allowing us to measure how well we are doing and identify any required improvements. Tier One checking is internal within the Child Maintenance Service and focuses checks on the more complex and high-risk decisions. The results provides both individual learning redressed through coaching support, and organisational learning to help us improve decision-making through for example improved instructions and learning products. There are 2 Tiers of independent assurance, reporting ultimately to NAO (National Audit Office). Learning from both these layers of quality assurance is routinely fed back into our organisation to help us determine product and process improvement. In January 2022 we introduced a new Learning and Innovation approach, making continual learning for colleagues more accessible for point of need in our decision-making process. This brings together self-paced learning products, guidance, tools, and videos to assist colleagues with their continuous learning journey. This was followed in May 2022 with a new Learning and Innovation Panel, with a remit to identify and address learning needs, review and ratify learning products – resulting in several improvements delivered year to date as a result of their scrutiny. This work and focus continues to deliver a high level of accuracy in the decision-making process conducted by the Child Maintenance Service, with the monetary value of error confirmed by NAO as less than 1% in the last operational year. The Department’s estimate of assessment accuracy for 2021/22 is 99.4%, which is unchanged from 2020/21 (99.4%). The Department expects automation to continue to have a positive impact on accuracy as the proportion of calculations carried out by the system rises relative to the manual activity of caseworkers. Whilst the risk of manual caseworker error cannot be removed, significant efforts are being made to reduce the likelihood of error. Better Management Information (MI) has also contributed to improving accuracy through increased transparency of the CMS 2012 system. CMG operations has implemented targeted checking regimes, developed using this improved MI. This has allowed early identification of emerging trends, allowing greater focus on getting things right first time for the client. New and improved training materials have been developed and work is also being done to embed a culture of continuous improvement

Child Maintenance Service: Appeals

Owen Thompson: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many and what proportion of decisions by the Child Maintenance Service have been appealed against in each of the last five years; and how many appeals have been successfully upheld at Tribunal.

Mims Davies: The Department publishes quarterly Child Maintenance Service (CMS) statistics, with the latest statistics available to September 2022, here: Child Maintenance Service statistics The quarterly number of appeals and outcomes from April 2015 to September 2022 can be found in Table 11 of the National Tables The department does not track the number of appeals as a proportion of decisions that potentially carry rights of appeal. Initial calculations made on applications carry rights of dispute and appeal as do annual reviews carried out annually on every case as do some change in circumstances. Either parent may raise a dispute or appeal on a decision and one decision can therefore be subject to two requests to appeal. Volumes of applications, cases and changes can be found in Table 1, Table 4 & Table 9. As we do not record how many changes in circumstances result in a new liability, we cannot give an accurate proportion of decisions made that leads to an appeal.

Cost of Living Payments: Pensioners

Feryal Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the cost of living payments for pensioners who are in receipt of State Pension but not Pension Credit.

Laura Trott: The Government understands the pressures people including pensioners are facing with the cost of living and has taken further decisive action to support people with their energy bills. The Government’s Energy Price Guarantee, running from October 2022-March 2023, will save a typical British household around £900 this winter, based on what the energy price would have been under the current price cap – reducing bills by roughly a third. This is in addition to over £37bn of cost of living support announced earlier this year which includes the £400 non-repayable discount to eligible households provided through the Energy Bills Support Scheme. To ensure stability and certainty for households, the Government is providing a further £26bn in cost of living support for 2023/24. The Government recognises the rising costs felt by all pensioners and therefore nearly 12 million pensioners will benefit from a 10.1% increase to their State Pension payments from April 2023, under the Triple Lock.Pensioner households have received a £300 Cost of Living payment in 2022/23. In 2023/24 a further Cost of Living payment will be made. More than eight million pensioner households will receive an additional £300 to help with bills.Pensioners can also benefit from the discretionary Household Support Fund for which the government has provided total funding of £2.5 billion.   This is a substantial package of support which recognises the current additional costs faced by pensioners.

Cost of Living: Domestic Abuse

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing additional protections for survivors of domestic abuse during the cost-of-living crisis.

Mims Davies: The government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and is providing £26bn in cost-of-living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable. In addition, the Home office Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan invests over £230 million, including over £140 million to support victims. For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding. DWP recognises the pressures and challenges that this group face, which is why we have made Discretionary Housing Payments available to allow LAs to provide financial help with rental costs. These are aimed at a number of groups likely to be affected by welfare reforms, including individuals or families fleeing domestic violence and abuse. Discretionary Housing Payments may also be given to victims that have remained in their home, which has been adapted under a sanctuary scheme. Jobcentres remain a safe place to share concerns and obtain advice and support for those impacted by domestic abuse. - Shared Accommodation RateFrom 1 October 2022, up to 11,000 victims of domestic abuse and modern slavery on Universal Credit or Housing Benefit will be able to claim extra help towards their rental costs, as they will no longer be expected to share accommodation. These groups will be able to claim the higher one-bedroom rate of Local Housing Allowance. This is worth approximately £140 on average per month but the amount will vary depending on the area in which they live. - Benefit cap levels increaseIn April 2023, the government will also increase the benefit cap levels in line with inflation by 10.1%. The benefit cap levels will rise from £23,000 to £25,323 for families in Greater London and from £20,000 to £22,020 for families nationally. The levels for single households without children will rise from £15,410 to £16,967 in Greater London and from £13,400 to £14,753 nationally.

Pensioners: Cost of Living

Sir David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps his Department is taking to help pensioners with the rising cost of living.

Laura Trott: The Government understands the pressures people are facing with the cost of living and that pensioners are more likely to suffer disproportionately from adverse health effects from living in a cold home and many low-income pensioner households do not claim the means tested benefits they are entitled to. That is why, in addition to the £37 billion of support we have provided for cost of living pressures in 2022/23, we are acting now to ensure support continues throughout 2023/24. There are currently around 1.4 million pensioners claiming Pension Credit, through which they will be entitled to receive up to £650 in Cost of Living Payments in 2022/23. These payments are targeted at low income households in receipt of an eligible means-tested benefit. Eight million pensioner households are receiving a £300 Pensioner Cost of Living Payment as a top-up to their Winter Fuel Payment, and pensioners in receipt of an eligible disability benefit should have received the £150 Disability Cost of Living Payment All pensioners in England who pay Council Tax in bands A to D should have received a £150 rebate. The Secretary of State announced on 17 November that State pensions and benefits will be up-rated from April 2023 by 10.1%, in line with the increase in the Consumer Prices Index in the year to September 2022. To ensure stability and certainty for households, in the Autumn Statement the Government announced £26 billion in cost of living support for 2023/24. This includes Cost of Living Payments for the most vulnerable households, an additional £1 billion to help with the cost of household essentials next year and the amended Energy Price Guarantee, which will save the average UK household £500 in 2023-24. For those who require extra support, the Government is providing an additional £1 billion of funding, including Barnett impact, to enable the extension of the Household Support Fund in England in the next financial year. This is on top of what we have already provided since October 2021, bringing total funding to £2.5 billion. In England this will be delivered through an extension to the Household Support Fund backed by £842 million, running from 1 April 2023 to 31 March 2024, which local authorities use to help households with the cost of essentials. It will be for the devolved administrations to decide how to allocate their additional Barnett funding.

Cold Weather Payments: Wales

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many households in Wales were eligible for the Cold Weather Payment and lived in a postcode area where Cold Weather Payments were made in that year (a) overall and (b) by whether eligibility derived from (i) receipt of pension credit or (ii) universal credit or other legacy benefits for each of the last 10 financial years.

Laura Trott: Please see below Cold Weather Payments for Wales, by year. YearCold Weather TriggersTotal households eligibleTotal households eligible, in receipt of Pension Credit (as a subset of total households)Number of payments madeNumber of payments made to Households in receipt of Pension Credit21/220245,00081,0000020/218250,00087,000140,00047,00019/200228,00091,0000018/192240,00096,00064,00024,00017/1818244,000101,000330,000135,00016/170251,000111,0000015/160252,000117,0000014/152230,000128,0008,0005,00013/140Data unavailable Data unavailable00 A household is classed as eligible for Cold Weather Payments if it satisfies eligibility criteria, such as receipt of a qualifying benefitA household will receive at least one Cold Weather Payment if it satisfies eligibility criteria and a cold weather trigger occurs in their postcode area, hence years with fewer cold weather triggers, fewer households were in receipt of at least one payment.Total Households eligible in receipt of UC or other legacy benefits is equivalent to total eligible households minus total eligible households in receipt of pension credit.For the year 2013/14, the estimated number of eligible households in Wales is not published.For year 2012/13 data broken down for Wales was not published, and therefore is not included here.Figures are rounded to nearest 1000

Pensions Ombudsman

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what recent assessment he has made of the capability of the Pensions Ombudsman in meeting service demand within the Office's existing levels of funding.

Laura Trott: The Department works closely with TPO and so recognises the pressures increasing demand for its services has brought. This is why, as part of the 2021 Spending Review, the Department has committed additional funding of over £3 million to TPO (2022/23 to 2024/25), to enable it to improve its operating model and better manage service demand. The requirement for further additional funding will be kept under review.

Financial Assistance Scheme

Stephen Doughty: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, when the Minister for Pensions last met pensioners who are members of the the Financial Assistance Scheme.

Laura Trott: The former Minister for Pensions and Financial Inclusion, met with pensioners who are members of the Financial Assistance Scheme on 16 June 2021 during a meeting with former members of the Allied Steel and Wire pension scheme.

Pension Credit: Married People

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the potential merits of altering pension credit eligibility to award pension credit for couples where one partner is in receipt of state pension and the other is under state pension age.

Laura Trott: Since May 2019, both members of a couple need to have reached State Pension age in order to be eligible for Pension Credit. This policy ensures that the same incentives to work and save apply to the younger partner as apply to other people of the same age. Pension Credit is intended to provide long term support for pensioner households who are no longer economically active due to age. It is not intended to support people of working age. We have no plans to change this policy.

Cold Weather Payments

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, if he will make an assessment of the adequacy of the locations of the Met Office Weather Stations used to determine eligibility for the cold weather payment to ensure that the measurements taken to activate those payments accurately reflect the temperatures where people live.

Laura Trott: The Met Office review the Cold Weather Payment scheme each year to assess whether the linkages between postcode areas and weather stations remain the best available. The Met Office concluded this year’s review on 18 July 2022, and the next review will take place in summer 2023.

Universal Credit: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme

Sir Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2022 to Question 87733 on Universal Credit: Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme, if he will extend Universal Credit disregards to bereaved next of kin recipients of VDPS payments; if he will enable bereaved recipients to establish a personal injury trust or annuity to benefit from Universal Credit disregards; whether there are other means bereaved recipients can benefit from such disregards; and what steps he is taking to enable bereaved recipients to have similar disregards to those who are directly injured.

Guy Opperman: The Department has no current plans to extend the disregards which apply in Universal Credit to people who receive Vaccine Damage Payments to next of kin recipients.

Social Security Benefits: Married People

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of the benefit cap on couples where one partner is in receipt of state pension and the other is a Universal Credit applicant.

Peter Grant: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether he has made an assessment of the adequacy of the benefit cap for couples where one partner is in receipt of state pension and the other is a Universal Credit applicant.

Guy Opperman: No assessment has been made.

Carer's Allowance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether his Department has made an Equality Impact Assessment of the implications of raising the earnings threshold for Carers Allowance by a lower percentage than the percentage rise in the National Living Wage in 2023-24.

Tom Pursglove: The weekly Carer’s Allowance earnings limit will be increased from £132 to £139 net from April 2023 (subject to parliamentary approval). This increase of 5.5% is in line with growth in Average Weekly Earnings for the year to May-July 2022, as published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). DWP use the ONS Annual Average Weekly Earnings growth measure for benefit uprating purposes where appropriate, as it is regarded as the most robust and up to date estimate of earnings growth across the economy available at the time we review the earnings limit. This is consistent with the approach we have normally taken over the last few years and, as such, an Equality Impact Assessment has not been undertaken and we have no plans to do one.

Jobcentres: Finance

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer 14 October 2022 to Question 54528 on Jobcentre Plus, what factors his Department took into account to determine the allocation of resources to Jobcentre sites.

Guy Opperman: The Department continually impacts and assesses the service being offered to customers. Staff numbers are reviewed on an ongoing basis, in line with the latest economic and benefit forecasts.

Employment Services: Costs

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the report from the National Audit Office on Employment Support, published on 9 June 2021, which estimated the cost of advisers and work coaches providing support to claimants in jobcentres in 2020-21 at £689 million, if he will make an estimate on the same basis of the cost of advisers and work coaches providing this type of support for the last five financial years for which data is available.

Guy Opperman: The year end estimate for the cost of advisors and work coaches is £951m for 2021/22. The costs for the previous four years were £689m, £570m, £564m, £542m.

Universal Credit

Mary Glindon: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of universal credit payments on working claimants who are paid by their employers on a four-weekly basis; and whether his Department has plans to change Universal Credit payments to four-weekly instead of monthly.

Guy Opperman: The Department has no plans to change either Universal Credit assessment periods or payment structures.

Access to Work Scheme

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many applications made to the Access to Work Scheme are outstanding as of 12 December 2022; and what steps his Department is taking to help reduce the number of outstanding applications.

Tom Pursglove: We can confirm that as of 12 December 2022, 25,103 applications made to Access to Work are currently outstanding. Access to Work has received a significant increase in applications over the last year and have recruited new staff to meet the increased demand and reduce the time it takes to make decisions. Customers making new applications, where they are starting work within the next 4 weeks or have a grant coming to an end that requires renewal, are prioritised to ensure customers are able to enter and remain in the labour market. We are also transforming the Access to Work service through increased digitalisation, which will make the service more efficient, the application process easier, and improve the time taken from application through to decision.

Cost of Living Payments

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the Cost of Living Payment management information, published on 12 December 2022, by what date he expects the remaining second Cost of Living Payments to be made.

Mims Davies: The vast majority of DWP customers in receipt of means tested benefits who were initially eligible to a Cost of Living Payment have received it. A process is in place for customers who believe they are eligible and have not yet received a payment to contact DWP and once eligibility is confirmed payment will be made as soon as possible. In addition, anyone who becomes eligible through retrospective awards of benefits will be paid through planned automated payment exercises through to March 2023.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Environment Protection

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent assessment she has made of progress towards all soil in England being managed sustainably by 2030, as set out in the 25 Year Environment Plan.

Trudy Harrison: 'Healthy soil' is included as one of the 66 indicators in the Outcome Indicator Framework of the 25 Year Environment Plan. These indicators are used to track environmental change that relates to the 10 goals. A Healthy Soil Indicator (E7) is currently being developed and a progress report for the 25 Year Environment Plan was published in July 2022 [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/25-year-environment-plan-progress-reports]. We are developing a range of soil health monitoring measures to create a robust baseline from which we can monitor improvements in soil health considering the physical, chemical and biological aspects of soil. This is aided by substantial new government investment in the Natural Capital and Ecosystem Assessment Programme, which will yield valuable new data to aid improved understanding of national soil condition.

Roads: Air Pollution

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the research conducted by Dr Anitha Chinnaswamy, assistant professor at Coventry University’s Centre for Business in Society on the effects of outdoor air pollution on drive-thru employees and users, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on tackling drive-through staff's high exposure to air pollution.

Rebecca Pow: Defra works collaboratively across Government to tackle air pollution and its impacts. Road vehicle emission standards have been very effective at reducing tailpipe emissions, and these will be further reduced through the UK’s phase out of petrol and diesel cars and vans in 2030 and HGVs by 2040. Government continues to invest in emerging technological developments to reduce harmful emissions from road vehicle tyre and brake wear. Through the Environment Act we are setting two stretching new targets for fine particulate matter – the pollutant most damaging to human health, and these and existing standards and targets will continue to drive down air pollution from all sources, including road transport.

Flood Control: Publicity

Dan Jarvis: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions she has had with (a) ministerial colleagues in the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, (b) the Cabinet Office, and (c) leaders in local government on improving flood risk awareness.

Rebecca Pow: The Secretary of State has regular discussions with Cabinet colleagues on a range of subjects, including flood risk. Discussions among Cabinet colleagues are considered confidential. The Environment Agency (EA) launched its annual Flood Action Campaign on 7 November, to encourage people to prepare in advance for flooding. This campaign promoted awareness of flood risk this winter, the actions people can take to prepare and government investment in flood resilience. In excess of 100 partners supported the week which generated over 130 pieces of coverage in print, online and broadcast across national and regional media. EA and Defra social media posts received 1.8m impressions and 5.2k engagements. Year on year, page views of the ‘how to plan ahead for flooding’ page during Flood Action Week increased by 33%. This autumn the EA also held winter readiness briefings and workshops with rural stakeholders, supported by the Met Office and the Flood Forecasting Centre, to communicate the range of services available to help prepare for possible flooding in rural locations this winter.

Air Pollution: EU Law

Geraint Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether she has made an assessment of the implications for her policies of the report by the European Commission entitled Study to support the impact assessment for a revision of the EU Ambient Air Quality Directives and that report's appendix, published on 26 October 2022.

Rebecca Pow: We have noted the proposals set out by the EU Commission, with whom we work closely through the UNECE Convention on Long-Range Transboundary Air Pollution. These proposals will be subject to negotiation between Member States in EU Council. The UK remains firmly committed to reducing air pollution on a national scale and we are legally required to set domestic targets that we can achieve. We have worked with internationally recognised experts to deliver the evidence to inform our target setting, and we are now setting targets for PM2.5 that are stretching but specific to our national circumstances.

Home Office

Fraud: Victims

Stephen Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department,  what steps her Department is taking to support victims of fraud.

Chris Philp: This Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime. We are working to improve the victim support system to ensure everyone receives the support and advice they need to feel safe again and to prevent revictimisation. Raising awareness and safeguarding victims will form a key pillar of the Government’s forthcoming fraud strategy.

Domestic Abuse: Death

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2021-2022 Year 2 Report, published in December 2022, what assessment she has made of the potential merits of the recommendations of that report that relate to her Department.

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2021-2022 Year 2 Report, published in December 2022, how many police forces have a Homicide Prevention Strategy.

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the report entitled Domestic Homicides and Suspected Victim Suicides 2021-2022 Year 2 Report, published in December 2022, what steps she plans to take to monitor the uptake of that report's recommendations.

Miss Sarah Dines: The Home Office have continued to build our evidence base on domestic homicides and suicides linked to domestic abuse through funding the National Police Chiefs’ Council (NPCC), College of Policing and Vulnerability and Knowledge Practice Programme (VKPP) Domestic Homicide Project. The Home Office fully supports the recommendations made in the project’s second year report. The recommendations for the Home Office reflect our own priorities to implement Domestic Homicide Review reform, as committed to in the Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan. We will work with the NPCC and VKPP Domestic Homicide Project team to monitor the implementation of the recommendations made within the report.In October the College of Policing published a new homicide prevention framework for forces and policing partners to reduce crimes that can lead to homicide. This homicide prevention framework brings together the best available evidence to support police forces to analyse and understand their crime problems and drivers of homicide, to develop and implement effective interventions and tactics, and to identify where partnership support is needed. It has been developed jointly with the NPCC and His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue Services (HMICFRS) as part of the national homicide prevention strategy.

Wind Power: Labour Market

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, if she will take steps to ensure that employers employing workers under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 regularise the position of those workers before the concession ends on 30 April 2023; and what data her Department holds on steps taken by employers to regularise the position of such workers before 31 October 2022.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, if she will place in the Library figures showing the number of workers granted leave to enter the UK under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 in each year of its operation when the concession ends on 30 April 2023.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, how many persons granted entry to work in the UK under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 provided a letter from their employer stating that they were employed in the construction or maintenance of a wind farm project within territorial waters.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, if she will take steps, before the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 ends on 30 April 2023, to assess the availability of UK workers to carry out this work.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, how many persons were granted entry to work in the UK under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 as a result of providing a valid seaman’s book.

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 13 December 2022 to Question 106455 on Wind Power: Labour Market, how many visa nationals received entry clearance under the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017 in each year of its operation.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not collect or store data on the number of overseas nationals working under the concession in the offshore industry in the UK from 2017 to date.We do not collect information on employers using the concession. The Government has no plans to publish information on individual companies who use the immigration system which is consistent with the policy across the wider system.The Home Office is not responsible for evaluating the labour market or governing how private companies recruit their workers. The information about the concession is published at Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: October 2022 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) on gov.uk for employers to access if they wish to.As previously set out, the Government regularly reviews all concessions to the Immigration Rules against the general principles of the immigration system to check whether they are necessary and regularly undertakes engagement with a wide range of stakeholders. This will continue to be the case in future.

Asylum: Calais

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to enable people to (a) claim asylum in the UK in Calais and (b) travel safely to the UK once their application has been made.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Government is taking to help ensure people who are fleeing countries where they are facing persecution are able to claim asylum in the UK.

Robert Jenrick: Whilst we sympathise with people in many difficult situations around the world, we could not possibly consider protection claims from the very large numbers of people overseas who might like to come to the UK. Those who need international protection should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.Our focus is on helping people directly from regions of conflict and instability, and we believe that our resettlement programmes are the best way to provide much needed support.Although we do not allow claims from abroad, I can confirm, all asylum claims that are admitted to the UK asylum system, are given full and careful consideration so that we do not remove anyone who faces persecution or serious harm to their country of origin.

Asylum

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to create safe and legal routes for asylum seekers to come to the UK.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will take steps to increase the speed and safety of routes (a) parents of children living in the UK and (b) other family reunion.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps she is taking to help ensure that people in or around Afghanistan who have had to flee because of threats or torture from the Taliban are provided access other than under the ACRS scheme to claim asylum in the UK.

Robert Jenrick: These dangerous concealments are facilitated by vile people smugglers, who place profits above the lives of vulnerable people. The Government is determined to prevent further loss of life by breaking the business model. The Home Office has invested significant amounts since 2014 to secure feeder ports, including increasing the use of body detection dogs and strengthening the vehicle screening regimes with the latest technology. The department is currently in the process of significantly strengthening the clandestine entrant civil penalty regime in order further drive improvements in vehicle security. Unfortunately, there have been fatalities, including the Purfleet incident in 2019 when 39 Vietnamese nationals sadly lost their lives, and all such incidents are a reminder that attempts to clandestinely cross the border are inherently dangerous.

Members: Correspondence

Kevin Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department plans to respond to the correspondence from the hon. Member for Torbay of 5 December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office will reply by 5 January 2023.

Asylum

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's oral statement of 13 December 2022 on Illegal Immigration, Official Report, column 885, what estimate she has made of when the number of asylum caseworkers will be doubled.

Robert Jenrick: We will recruit further staff and expect to have 2,500 decision makers in post by September 2023.

Prisoners: Foreign Nationals

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many foreign national offenders, who having served their sentence, were subsequently deported in the last 12 months.

Robert Jenrick: Foreign offenders should be in no doubt of our determination to deport them. Any foreign national who is convicted of a crime and given a prison sentence is considered for deportation at the earliest opportunity. We make every effort to ensure that a Foreign National Offender’s (FNO) removal by deportation coincides, as far as possible, with their release from prison on completion of sentence. More than 12,200 FNOs have been removed since January 2019 protecting victims and making our streets safer.The Home Office publishes data on the number of Foreign National Offenders (FNOs) returned from the UK in each quarter in the Immigration statistics quarterly release - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). The latest data, published on 24 November 2022, can be found in Returns-summary-sep-2022-tables.ods (Tables Ret_02a/Ret_02b) and Detailed Returns tables (Table Ret_D03/D04). Figures relate to year ending June 2022.We deal with significant and complex challenges when seeking to return those who have no right to be in the UK to their country of origin or lawful place of return. These challenges can include travel documentation, late applications, late appeals and broader non-compliance with a lawful returns process. The Nationality and Borders Act will make it easier and quicker to remove FNOs and those with no right to be in the UK. The new legislation extends the period an FNO can be removed from prison under the early removal scheme (ERS) from a maximum of 9 months to 12 months, providing the minimum requisite period has been served. The Act will also streamline the appeals process by introducing an expanded One Stop Process aimed at reducing the extent to which people can frustrate removals through sequential or unmeritorious claims, appeals or legal action.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many Afghan citizens resettled in the UK under the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy scheme are residing in hotel accommodation.

Robert Jenrick: We have been working as fast as possible to support Afghan families into homes of their own, so that they can settle into their local communities and rebuild their lives in the UK.Information can be accessed by following this link: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)

Members: Correspondence

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the correspondence sent by email on 13 October 2022 and again on 14 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL13501.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the correspondence sent by email on 14 October 2022 and again on 14 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL13502.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will respond to the email correspondence of 13 September, 12 October and 14 November 2022 from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL13114.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when her Department will respond to the correspondence sent by email to the urgent casework enquiries address on 12 October 2022 and 10 November from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL12988.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will respond to the correspondence sent by email on 13 September 2022 and again on 2 November from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL12676.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will respond to the correspondence sent by email on 11 October 2022 and again on 15 November from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL13262.

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she will respond to the correspondence sent by email on 11 October 2022 and again on 15 November from the hon. Member for Glasgow East, reference DL13454.

Robert Jenrick: MPAM/0432042/22 – The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 14 December 2022.MPAM/0473111/22 – The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 15 December 2022.MPAM/0451942/22 – The Home Office will provide a response shortly.MPAM/0450452/22 – The Home Office will provide a response shortly.MPAM/0449501/22 – The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 14 December 2022.MPAM/0452824/22 – The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 14 December 2022.MPAM/0452561/22 – The Home Office responded to the hon. Member’s correspondence on 14 December 2022.

Wind Power: Migrant Workers

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November 2022 to Question 902177 on Wind Power: Migrant Workers, when it was agreed to extend the concession; and what discussions (a) Ministers and (b) officials had with employers before the extension agreement.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the answer to question 902177 on 14 November 2022 on Wind Power: Migrant Workers, when the decision to extend the concession was communicated to employers; and which employer organisations were contacted as part of the evaluation process.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 14 November to Question 902177 on Wind Power: Migrant Workers, what consideration was given to domestic (a) employment and (b) skills as part of the evaluation process.

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, If she will make an estimate the number of seafarers imported to work on offshore wind farms in UK territorial waters through the Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office does not collect or store data on the number of overseas nationals working under the concession in the offshore industry in the UK from 2017 to date.The Home Office is not responsible for evaluating the labour market or governing how private companies recruit their workers. The information about the concession is published at Offshore wind workers Immigration Rules concession 2017: October 2022 update - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) on gov.uk for employers to access if they wish to.The Home Office regularly engages with other government departments, including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Transport, and external stakeholders on matters relating to immigration. The Secretary of State for the Home Department and Minister for Immigration regularly meet various stakeholders and their counterparts across government in formal and informal meetings to discuss a wide range of issues.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme have been made outside the UK.

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme were made outside the UK.

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many successful applications under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme were made in the UK.

Sam Tarry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applicantions under the Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme have been made in the UK.

Robert Jenrick: The Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) will provide up to 20,000 women, children, and others at risk with a safe and legal route to resettle in the UK.   The scheme does not have an application process.  Instead, eligible people will be referred for resettlement to the UK through one of three referral pathways.We are continuing the process to grant Indefinite Leave to Remain to all eligible individuals who arrived during the evacuation: officials have already registered over 13,000 applications for resettlement from Afghans in the UK, with biometric residence permits being issued accordingly. In the meantime, applicants remain eligible to work and access services under their continuing leave.At November 4 2022, we had granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 6,314 people under ACRS pathway 1.Work is underway to assure information relating to all the individuals relocated under the ARAP and ACRS on case working systems. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in future editions of the Immigration Statistics.More information on the number of grants of Indefinite Leave to Remain issued to Afghans resettling under the ARAP or ACRS can be viewed at:  https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data/afghan-resettlement-programme-operational-data

Visas: Fees and Charges

Angela Crawley: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many and what proportion of people who qualified for visa fee waivers were minors in (a) 2020, (b) 2021 and (c) 2022.

Robert Jenrick: We do not hold data on what proportion of people who qualified for visa fee waivers were minors in any of the requested years.Data has been published on the GOV.UK website that lists the number of fee waiver applications that have been processed, resolved or remain pending a decision. This data covers the period from 2018 Q4 to 2022 Q3 inclusive. The data can be found at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-and-protection-data-q3-2022. The relevant data is listed on tab FW_01.

Fire and Rescue Services: Finance

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will fully fund the (a) replacement and (b) operation of fire service end-of-life national resilience assets; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The maintenance and replacement of end-of-life fire National Resilience assets is fully funded for the 2021 to 2025 Spending Review period.However, the specialist vehicles and equipment which support the National Resilience capabilities were purchased around 2005 and will need to be replaced from 2025. We will seek funding for this for the next Spending Review period.

Asylum

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the oral statement by the Prime Minister of 13 December 2022 on Illegal Immigration, Official Report, column 885, whether safe and legal routes to claim asylum (a) are available and (b) will be available after 1 March 2023 to people who are not from Ukraine, Afghanistan or Syria.

Robert Jenrick: The UK, like most other countries, does not accept asylum claims from abroad. Individuals should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.The UK will continue to welcome refugees from across the world through existing safe and legal resettlement routes. These include the existing global UK Resettlement Scheme (UKRS), Community Sponsorship, the Mandate Resettlement Scheme.

Fire and Rescue Services: Pensions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to fund the cost of (a) a fire service pensions remedy and (b) the second options exercise for part-time workers in fire services; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The proposed remedies in both instances will ensure that affected firefighters and former firefighters will be placed in the correct position in respect of their pension entitlement and receive their full pension benefits.Decisions on central government funding relating to these remedies will be subject to future discussions between The Treasury, the Home Office and Local Government.

Refugees: Afghanistan

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people (a) arrived in the UK, (b) were granted indefinite leave to remain, (c) were housed in temporary accommodation and (d) were moved into settled accommodation from each referral pathway of the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme in each month since the opening of those referral pathways.

Robert Jenrick: At 4 November 2022, 22,833 people have arrived in the UK from Afghanistan, and we have granted Indefinite Leave to Remain to 12,296 individuals across the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and Afghan Citizen Resettlement Scheme.Information can be accessed by following this link: Afghan Resettlement Programme: operational data - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).Work is underway to assure information on caseworking systems relating to all the individuals resettled under the ACRS and relocated under ARAP. Once this work concludes, statistics on both schemes - including the number of people resettled under each - will be included in the published Immigration Statistics.

Asylum: Applications

Dame Diana Johnson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's policy of clearing the backlog of initial asylum decisions by the end of 2023, how much money has she allocated to completing that objective; and what that money will be spent on.

Robert Jenrick: Funding for the measures which have been announced has been agreed with HM Treasury (together with anticipated efficiencies). The allocation of this funding is due to be confirmed as part of the usual business planning process within Home Office and further information including actual spend will be provided within Home Office financial statements in due course.The funding allocated to clearing the backlog of asylum decisions will be used to fund additional decision makers as announced.

Asylum: Deportation

Derek Twigg: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Prime Minister's Answer to the hon. Member for Halton during his oral statement of 13 December 2022 on Illegal Immigration, Official Report, column 902, for what reason she has not set a target for the removal from the UK of asylum seekers whose application have been rejected.

Robert Jenrick: The Government wants to maximise the number of people returned from the United Kingdom through both voluntary and enforced routes.

Domestic Abuse: Victim Support Schemes

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment of the consequences for her policies she has made of the recommendation of the Domestic Abuse Commissioner of a flexible national funding pot, to help enable survivors of domestic abuse to escape abuse.

Miss Sarah Dines: Tackling domestic abuse is a priority for this Government. A central part of this is making sure victims and survivors get the support they need.The Tackling Domestic Abuse Plan, which we published in March, invests over £230 million, including over £140 million specifically for supporting victims and survivors.This included a commitment to establish trials of a ‘flexible fund’. In the Plan, we committed to making funds available to charities, who would have discretion on how they could be used to support victims and survivors.Delivery of the ‘flexible fund’ by charities could involve cash payments being made to victims and survivors, in the same way proposed by the Domestic Abuse Commissioner. These payments could help victims and survivors to leave an abuser.The Government has also noted the Domestic Abuse Commissioner’s report mapping provision of support services for domestic abuse victims and survivors. across England and Wales. A full response will be provided in due course.

Slavery

Jess Phillips: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the Written Statement by the Minister of State for Immigration of 13 December on Update to Modern Slavery Statutory Guidance, HCWS441, what her definition is of objective factors; and how she expects this to affect decisions by case workers.

Miss Sarah Dines: The updated Reasonable Grounds guidance will mean decision makers now base their assessments on objective factors to determine whether there are reasonable grounds to believe a person is a victim.An “objective” factor is a piece of information or evidence that is based in fact. This will ensure that decision makers can make timely and robust evidence-backed decisions and that assistance and support are focused on those who most need it.

Home Office: Carbon Emissions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, by what date they expect their Department to be carbon neutral in its day to day operations.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to delivering Net Zero by 2050.Central Government reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2019-20 compared to a 2009-10 baseline, exceeding its target of 43%.The Greening Government Commitments set out the actions that UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets for departmental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, with current targets for the period 2021-25. The Department is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible and has ambitious targets under the Greening Government Commitments.

Animals in Science Regulation Unit

Ben Lake: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 1 December 2022 to Question 97679 on Animals in Science Regulation Unit, if she will commission an independent review of the potential benefits of increasing the fees payable for licences under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 to generate additional income to increase inspector numbers and reduce cases of non-compliance.

Chris Philp: The Home Office has no plans to commission an independent review.The Regulator regularly assesses its requirement for fee income for the delivery of protections to animals in compliance with the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986.The Regulator’s capacity and capability for service delivery and compliance assurance purposes is aligned with the requirements defined in the legislation.

Fire and Rescue Services: Reform

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what progress her Department has made on the fire service reform consultation.

Chris Philp: The Fire Reform White Paper consultation closed on the 26th of July 2022.The Home Office is analysing responses and the Government response to the consultation will be published as soon as possible. The response will detail the next steps for reform.

Crime Prevention

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help prevent crime in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB). Last year the Beating Crime Plan laid out the Government’s plan for tackling crime and ASB and committed to working with local agencies and partners to drive down ASB using the full range of powers and tools in the ‘2014 Act’.We provided the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to ASB through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances.The Home Office announced in March this year that ASB would be one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the next rounds of the Safer Streets Fund. This funding goes towards local projects aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces for all with a particular focus on addressing neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and tackling violence against women and girls. At the end of July, we announced the outcome of Round Four of the Safer Streets Fund, investing an additional £50 million and supporting 111 projects across England and Wales.We are committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs to cut crime and increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 by March 2023. These 20,000 additional officers will be on top of recruitment to cover retirement and those leaving the police.It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives respectively, to decide how best to respond to local priorities.

Anti-social Behaviour

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent assessment she has made of trends in the levels of anti-social behaviour incidents in (a) Coventry North East constituency, (b) Coventry, (c) the West Midlands and (d) England in (i) 2021 and (ii) 2022; and what (A) financial and (B) other steps her Department is taking to tackle anti-social behaviour in those areas.

Colleen Fletcher: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what (a) financial and (b) other steps her Department is taking to help prevent crime in (i) Coventry North East constituency, (ii) Coventry, (iii) the West Midlands and (iv) England.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to tackling crime and anti-social behaviour (ASB). Last year the Beating Crime Plan laid out the Government’s plan for tackling crime and ASB and committed to working with local agencies and partners to drive down ASB using the full range of powers and tools in the ‘2014 Act’.We provided the police, local authorities and other local agencies with a range of flexible tools and powers that they can use to respond quickly and effectively to ASB through the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014. It is for local areas to decide how best to deploy these powers depending on the specific circumstances.The Home Office announced in March this year that ASB would be one of the primary crime and issue types being targeted in the next rounds of the Safer Streets Fund. This funding goes towards local projects aimed at increasing the safety of public spaces for all with a particular focus on addressing neighbourhood crime, anti-social behaviour and tackling violence against women and girls. At the end of July, we announced the outcome of Round Four of the Safer Streets Fund, investing an additional £50 million and supporting 111 projects across England and Wales.We are committed to ensuring that policing has the resources it needs to cut crime and increasing the number of police officers by 20,000 by March 2023. These 20,000 additional officers will be on top of recruitment to cover retirement and those leaving the police.It is for Chief Constables and Police and Crime Commissioners, as operational leaders and elected local representatives respectively, to decide how best to respond to local priorities.

Fire and Rescue Services: Grants

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will make it her policy to (a) add to the Local Government Finance Settlement the one-off grants that fire authorities receive for pensions and post Grenfell funding in protection services, (b) reinstate the Firelink grant when it comes to an end from the Home Office while Fire Services continue to incur the costs the grant is designed to cover and (c) increase the new burdens grant for the costs of the Redmond review of audit procedures in line with the increase in the costs of external audit; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: The Home Office keeps the payment of grants to Fire and Rescue Services under regular review and seeks to include them into the Local Government Settlement wherever possible. The Department will continue to seek to rationalise funding for Fire and Rescue where possible, including consolidating smaller grants which can create administration burdens.The costs of the Fire and Rescue communication systems, along with all of their other costs of delivering their service has been factored into the Local Government Settlement which will be published by the Department for Levelling-up, Housing and Communities later this month.The Government is clear that local authorities will need to meet audit costs within existing budgets. However, we remain committed to supporting local authorities with the costs of strengthening their financial reporting and will be providing additional funding of £45m over the next three years.

Fire and Rescue Services and Fire Brigades Union

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions she has had with (a) fire brigade staff and (b) the Fire Brigades Union.

Chris Philp: Home Office officials and Ministers regularly meet with a range of fire professionals and leaders and with unions and other representative groups to understand the issues affecting fire and rescue services.

Home Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for October 2022, for what purpose her Communications Directorate purchased Panoramic Limestone Background Equipment on 31 October 2022.

Chris Philp: The photography background was purchased to provide a professional multi-purpose backdrop to a broad range of video and photo communications for the Home Office including social media, departmental announcements, Ministerial pre-records, pool clips and other media moments.

Members: Correspondence

Dan Carden: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to respond to the email of 24 October 2022 from the hon. Member for Liverpool Walton, relating to Peshawa Fatahpanah.

Robert Jenrick: The Home Office replied on 17 December 2022.

Fire and Rescue Services: Carbon Emissions

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if she will provide additional funding to fire and rescue services to help enable them to achieve net zero by 2050; and if she will make a statement.

Chris Philp: Fire and Rescue Authorities are responsible for considering the impact of and planning against risks to their Fire and Rescue Service and local communities including environmental risks.Funding for all Fire and Rescue responsibilities is delivered via the Local Government Settlement. Fire and Rescue Authorities will receive around £2.5bn in 2022/23 to enable the delivery of their services to communities.

British Council: Afghanistan

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to the response to the Urgent Question on 12 December 2022 on British Council Contractors: Afghanistan, Official Report, column 741, how many (a) names her Department has received from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office for security checks for Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme Pathway 3 and (b) of those security checks how many have been completed as of the 13 December 2022.

Robert Jenrick: Under the Afghan Citizens Resettlement Scheme (ACRS) Pathway 3, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office received over 11,400 Expressions of Interest (EOIs) before the window to submit EOIs closed on 15 August 2022.The Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office have been processing each EOI to assess if the eligibility criteria has been met, and are referring cases to the Home Office.Once Home Office security checks have been completed, the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office will provide further information on next steps to eligible individuals. We will update Parliament on numbers to be resettled under Pathway 3 once we have completed the allocation process, notified all those who submitted EOIs of the outcome and assured data to share.

Smuggling: Firearms

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to help reduce firearm smuggling into the UK.

Chris Philp: The Government is committed to tackling the threat posed by trafficking of illicit firearms into the UK.The high harm nature of firearms means that the potential threat from criminals and terrorists gaining access to and using firearms poses a significant risk to public safety.To tackle the flow of illicit firearms being trafficked into the UK, Border Force and its partners ensure that we have the right intelligence, detection and enforcement capabilities at the border. Alongside this, the National Crime Agency and our international partners tackle the threat upstream by engaging with source and nexus countries.

Home Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for the month of September 2022, what the purpose of the event was for which video mixers were purchased from Wex Photo Video on 12 and 14 September 2022.

Chris Philp: The video mixers were purchased for an Home Office All Staff memorial event to honour Her Late Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II.

Home Office: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to her Department’s publication of government procurement card spending over £500 for the month of August 2022, what was the purpose of the photo frames purchased by her Department’s communications directorate from Pedunculate Ltd on 26 August 2022.

Chris Philp: On 25 August 2002 the Home Office purchased 100 A4 certificate frames to award commendations from the then Home Secretary, as recognition for exceptional service or bravery in the field of home affairs.On 31 August 2022 we held a presentation event where 97 individuals were personally awarded commendations by the Home Secretary, including policing and fire services, community organisations, campaigners and civil servants. This event was publicised on Gov.uk and a press release was issued:Brave, inspirational and selfless acts recognised with new Home Secretary commendation - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk).

British Nationality: Iran

Bambos Charalambous: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the level of threat posed by Iran to British nationals.

Tom Tugendhat: On 16th November, the Director General of MI5 outlined that since January, there have been at least ten threats to kidnap or even kill UK-based individuals, and there have been threats from Iran arise since that speech.Iran has established a pattern of this type of behaviour which is deplorable, yet sadly typical of the regime and its lack of respect for basic rights.The Home Office works closely across Government to ensure all tools are utilised to protect individuals in the UK against any threats from the Iranian state.

Counter-terrorism: Public Places

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to create the Protect Duty.

Suella Braverman: I would like to pay tribute to those [Figen Murray and Brendan Cox, amongst others] who have campaigned for this legislation. The foundational aspects of the Protect Duty, now to be known as Martyn’s Law, were detailed this morning in Written Ministerial Statements issued in both Houses.It will keep people safe, by introducing proportionate new security requirements to ensure preparedness for, and protection from terrorist attacks.This Government will introduce these measures to the House as soon as parliamentary time allows.

Fraud: Victims

Gary Sambrook: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to support victims of fraud.

Tom Tugendhat: This Government takes the issue of fraud very seriously and is dedicated to protecting the public from this devastating crime.We are working to improve the victim support system to ensure everyone receives the support and advice they need to feel safe again and to prevent revictimisation. Raising awareness and safeguarding victims will form a key pillar of the Government’s forthcoming fraud strategy.

Gender Based Violence: Crime Prevention

Vicky Ford: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to tackle street crime against women and girls.

Miss Sarah Dines: We remain committed to delivering our Tackling Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy.We have allocated £125 million across England and Wales through the Safer Streets Fund and the Safety of Women at Night Fund, including £550,000 investment into the constituency of My Right Honourable Friend, the Member for Chelmsford.The Government is supporting my Right Honourable Friend the Member for Tunbridge Wells’s ‘Protection from Sex-Based Harassment in Public Bill’, which would make public sexual harassment a specific offence.

Asylum

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether she is taking steps to prevent people claiming asylum in the UK if they could have claimed asylum elsewhere.

Robert Jenrick: Individuals should claim asylum in the first safe country they reach – that is the fastest route to safety.Our policies reflect this, including the process whereby an asylum claim may be declared inadmissible to the UK asylum system if the claimant was previously present in, or has a connection to, a safe third country where it would have been reasonable to expect them to claim asylum.The differentiation policy, which differentiates the entitlements afforded to refugees, is intended to dissuade migrants from making dangerous journeys to the UK and instead claim asylum in the first safe country they reach.

Fraud

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment she has made of the implications for her policies on budgeting priorities of the findings of the National Audit Office report, Progress combatting fraud, published 15 November 2022, that crimes relating to fraud have increased by 12 per cent since 2017 and that charges and summons are falling.

Tom Tugendhat: The Home Office welcomed the publication of the National Audit Office report and recognises the substantial increasing risk that fraud poses to UK residents and businesses.To support law enforcement to identify and bring the most harmful offenders to justice, we have already invested £400 million through Spending Review 2021 in tackling economic crime including fraud. This is in addition to the funding that the Home Office commits each year to the National Economic Crime Centre in the National Crime Agency (NCA), and police forces. We recognise that further action is required, and we will shortly publish a new strategy to address the rising threat of fraud, which will set out the outcomes we are aiming to achieve.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities

Architecture: Higher Education

Hywel Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will conduct an impact assessment on the delivery of architecture courses across Welsh universities and in the Machynlleth Centre for Alternative Technology of the Architects Act 1997 (Amendment) Regulations 2022.

Lucy Frazer: The Architects Act 1997 (Amendment) Regulations 2022 enable the Architects Registration Board, the regulator for architects, to have autonomy over which international architecture qualifications it recognises and with which overseas regulators it enters into recognition agreements.Reciprocal recognition agreements with overseas regulators will not only mean that the UK can expand its talent pool, but UK architecture qualifications will also be recognised abroad making the UK a more attractive place to both study and practise. The Impact Assessment published alongside the Professional Qualifications Bill can be found here.

Derelict Land

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2022 to Question 74774 on Land Use, whether land that is classed as recreation land can be used for any other activity if it becomes derelict.

Barbara Keeley: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of 17 November 2022 to Question 86475, if he will make an assessment of the potential impact of the National Planning Policy Framework on the delivery of new allotments.

Lucy Frazer: Our National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) provides protections to open spaces and recreation facilities. It sets out that existing open space, sports and recreational buildings and land, including playing fields, should not be built on unless: an assessment has been undertaken which has clearly shown the open space, buildings or land to be surplus to requirements; or the loss resulting from the proposed development would be replaced by equivalent or better provision in terms of quantity and quality in a suitable location; or the development is for alternative sports and recreational provision, the benefits of which clearly outweigh the loss of the current or former use.We recognise through the NPPF the important role that allotments can provide in enabling and supporting healthy lifestyles within our communities.

Disability: Employment

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what plans he has to support disability employment within the Northern Ireland Investment Plan for the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Stephen Farry: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, if he will set out the timescale for the (a) start and (b) finish of the competition for economic inactivity support under the People and Skills strand of the Northern Ireland Investment Plan for the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Dehenna Davison: As set out in the Plan we intend to invest significantly in projects that support individuals furthest from the labour market into sustainable employment.The Plan sets out £42 million for economic inactivity support, with projects supporting cohorts including people with a disability or health condition expected to be supported. Information regarding a competition for this economic inactivity support will be announced shortly.

Housing: Mould

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, pursuant to the Answer of !4 December to Question 107087 on Housing: Mould, whether his Department is providing extra resources to local authorities to help ensure that they have the capability to address these issues.

Dehenna Davison: The Secretary of State wrote to social housing providers alerting them to respond to the Regulator of Social Housing on damp and mould in their areas. The Regulator has since written  asking for information to be provided by 19 December. This information should provide a clearer picture on the scale of the problem for the government to consider what action is needed.

Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities: Vacancies

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, which five teams in their Department have the highest number of staffing vacancies as a proportion of total staff as of 8 December 2022; and what proportion of roles were vacant in each of those teams.

Dehenna Davison: Total workforce size of the Department will be published as usual in the Departmental Annual Report and Accounts.Data for divisional teams could only be collected at disproportionate cost.

Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Sarah Green: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what steps his Department is taking to assist Ukrainian refugees seeking to rent accommodation in the private sector following the end of their initial family placement under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what support the Government is providing to (a) Ukrainians who are resident in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and (b) local councils to support individuals who find their six-month sponsorship is now coming to an end under that scheme.

Felicity Buchan: I refer the Hon Member to the written statement made by my Rt Hon Friend, the Secretary of State (HCWS447) on 14 December 2022.

Private Rented Housing: Ombudsman

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, with reference to the white paper entitled A fairer private rented sector, published on 16 June 2022, what recent progress his Department has made on establishing a single Government-approved ombudsman covering all private landlords who rent out property in England.

Felicity Buchan: Provision for all private landlords to be members of a single ombudsman is an important part of our reforms set out in the White Paper. Work is underway to ensure an Ombudsman can deliver an effective and efficient service to tenants and landlords.

Housing: Energy

Rachel Maclean: To ask the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, what assessment he has made of the effectiveness of the Whole Housing Approach pilot, which was funded by the Department from 2018 – March 2021.

Felicity Buchan: The Whole Housing Approach pilot was an innovative and transformative partnership project bringing together Stockton on Tees, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough and three West London Boroughs - Westminster, Kensington and Chelsea, Hammersmith and Fulham and the domestic abuse sector which helped ensure that victims of domestic abuse lived in accommodation that is safe and get the right support.An independent evaluation report commissioned by the Domestic Abuse Housing Alliance after the first year found that “for every £1 invested the cost benefit ratio ranged from £3.39 to £59.27. This provided potential total savings of £68,545.80 to the public purse”.

Cabinet Office

Public Contracts Regulations 2015

Stella Creasy: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, what plans he has to (a) retain, (b) revoke or (c) replace the Public Contracts Regulations 2015.

Alex Burghart: Through the Retained EU Law (Reform and Revocation) Bill, the Government is currently reviewing which retained European Union law should be repealed, reformed or preserved. The existing procurement regime, which includes the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, will need to be preserved until the new regime is ready to be implemented. This is laid out in the Procurement Bill and currently being debated in Parliament.

Dominic Raab

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2022 to Question 92230 on right Hon. Member for Esher and Walton, whether the Prime Minister has asked Adam Tolley KC to investigate further complaints about the Deputy Prime Minister since 29 November; and whether he plans to amend further the published terms of reference for the investigation.

Angela Rayner: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 29 November 2022 to Question 92230 on right Hon. Member for Esher and Walton, whether his Department has received any further formal complaints regarding the conduct of the Deputy Prime Minister since 29 November.

Jeremy Quin: Further to my answer of 29 November, the Government confirmed publicly on 14 December that the Prime Minister has asked the investigator to include five further formal complaints relating to conduct at the Ministry of Justice as part of the ongoing investigation, and in line with the existing Terms of Reference.

Cabinet Office: Transfer of Questions

Grahame Morris: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the answer of 8 December 2022 to Question 902659 on Prison officers: retirement, for what reasons this question was transferred from the Cabinet Office to the Ministry of Justice.

Jeremy Quin: The Terms and Conditions of Prison Officers, including any proposals to change their retirement provisions, are matters on which the Ministry of Justice lead.

Infected Blood Compensation Framework Study

Virginia Crosbie: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when he plans to publish the response of the Government to the Sir Robert Francis KC Infected Blood Compensation Study; and what the method of payment will be for those people in Wales receiving an interim payment as part of the Infected Blood inquiry.

Jeremy Quin: I refer my Hon Friend to the statement I made in the House on 15 December.

Honours

Wendy Chamberlain: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, when the next 3-5 year review of the Honours System is due to (a) take place and (b) report.

Jeremy Quin: The review will take place and is expected to report in 2023.

Department for International Trade

Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for October 2022, who attended the meal purchased for £1,120.00 at One Lombard Street on 20 October 2021; and whether that included any expenditure on alcoholic beverages.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, with reference to her Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for October 2021, where were the hotels on which £7497.08 was spent between the period of 18-25 October; for which individuals that accommodation was purchased; and what the purpose was of their stay at those hotels.

Nigel Huddleston: The Department for International Trade has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Department for International Trade: Brexit

Sir Bill Wiggin: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment they have made of the impact of the UK's departure from the EU on their ability to deliver successful policy outcomes.

Greg Hands: Leaving the European Union has given the UK the opportunity to forge its own path as an independent trading nation.To date we have secured trade deals with 71 countries plus the EU, representing £814bn of UK bilateral trade in 2021. We are focused on securing more deals with dynamic and fast-growing economies and are making good progress in negotiations with India and our accession to the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP).We also resolve barriers that inhibit UK business from entering markets and recently announced ambition to unlock export opportunities worth more than £20bn by resolving around 100 priority trade barriers.

Trade Agreements: Israel

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 15 November 2022 to Question 80842 on Trade Agreements: Israel, whether it has always been the policy of the Government not sacrifice quality for speed in trade negotiations.

Greg Hands: The Government is clear that in negotiations we will not sacrifice quality for speed, and this policy will remain unchanged. A new agreement will modernise and upgrade our current trade relations based on the UK-Israel Trade and Partnership Agreement to cover services, procurement, and digital trade. We will only sign once we are confident that the new agreement is in the best interest of the UK economy and British people.

Strategic Trade Advisory Group and Trade Advisory Groups

Ruth Cadbury: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, when her Department's review on membership of the (a) Strategic Trade Advisory Group and (b) Trade Advisory Group will be completed.

Greg Hands: The Department for International Trade (DIT) is working to ensure its full suite of stakeholder engagement is suited to the department’s current and anticipated work plan and priorities. Therefore, as stated at the International Trade Select Committee, DIT is looking at wider reforms beyond the membership of our advisory groups. We do however anticipate that the Strategic Trade Advisory Group and Trade Advisory Groups will meet with refreshed membership early in the New Year.

UK Export Finance: Mozambique

Jeff Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, if he will list the projects in Mozambique UK Export Finance (a) is considering for support or (b) has been asked to consider for support in the future, broken down by (i) location and (ii) aims.

Andrew Bowie: UK Export Finance (UKEF) is not currently considering support for any transactions in Mozambique. UKEF currently operates a restricted cover position with regard to Mozambique which would impact its consideration of any new transactions. Details can be found online at: www.gov.uk/guidance/country-cover-policy-and-indicators.

Exports

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her department is taking to increase export opportunities for businesses in (a) Preston, (b) in the North West region and (c) England.

Andrew Bowie: The Department for International Trade (DIT) offers a tailored service to businesses in Preston and the North West via our dedicated Northern Powerhouse team that offers support and expertise to meet the export needs of SMEs and larger businesses at a local level. Our offices in Leeds, Manchester, and Darlington, help drive growth and prosperity through export and investment, and provide a range of upskilling services to businesses including the export academy and export champion programmes. DIT’s Trade Advisor Service gives exporters outside the capital and Southeast the tools, support, and opportunities to succeed in global trade.

Department for International Trade: Maritime UK

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many hours officials in her Department have worked to (a) attend and (b) support the policy agenda of the National Council of Maritime UK since 2019-20 to date.

Andrew Bowie: The National Council meets three times a year. Department for International Trade (DIT) officials have generally attended these meetings, which last around three hours. It is one of the mechanisms used to engage with industry. DIT along with other Government Departments attends to provide an update and hear from Stakeholders about their issues. It is a good forum for engagement with the sector on international trade and investment policy as it relates to the maritime sector.

Exports: Costs

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what steps her department is taking to increase the transparency of export costs.

Andrew Bowie: We recognise the barriers small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) face to exporting: our most recent National Survey of Registered Businesses (NSRB) highlights that companies’ lack of knowledge, capacity and awareness of opportunities represent real market failures which prevent SMEs from exporting. The Department for International Trade does not ask businesses to respond to the survey to assess and report the actual costs involved.The 12-point plan for exports aims to address these barriers and is centred around the Export Support Service (ESS) which provides a single point of entry for businesses who export or wish to do so.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Culture: Exports

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, whether she plans to (a) revoke, (b) retain or (c) replace Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009.

Stuart Andrew: Council Regulation (EC) No 116/2009 was revoked by The Export of Objects of Cultural Interest (Control) (Amendment etc.) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 with effect from the end of the transition period.

Arts: Capital Investment

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking to invest in capital projects to enhance (a) the arts and (b) music in local communities.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what steps she is taking ensure funding for (a) arts and (b) music is evenly distributed across the country.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to ensure that every community has (a) arts and (b) music venues.

Julia Lopez: In March 2022 we were delighted to announce the recipients of the £48 million first round of funding from the Cultural Investment Fund. This round of funding will go to more than 60 organisations, including those whose focus is on arts and music. The Cultural Investment Fund will invest up to £128.4 million of further capital in innovative cultural and creative projects, libraries, and museums across the country over the Spending Review period (2022/23–2024/25). Alongside this, the Cultural Development Fund represents the Department's largest existing ring-fenced funding explicitly for culture-led regeneration projects outside London, in line with our Levelling Up work. The successful applicants to the £30.2 million third round of the Cultural Development Fund will be announced in spring 2023, and will help to unlock economic growth in towns and cities across England through investment in cultural and creative activities, using creativity as a catalyst to make places more attractive to live, work and visit.In addition, Arts Council England recently announced the outcome of its 2023-2026 Investment Programme, which will be investing £446 million each year in arts and culture across England. This funding will support a record 990 organisations across the whole of England and will give people across the country more opportunities to access high-quality arts and culture on their doorstep.Arts Council England has also extended the Supporting Grassroots Live Music ‘time-limited priority’ until 31 March 2023, with a ring-fenced fund of £1.5 million. The fund is designed to support organisations across the country – including venues and promoters – with little or no prior experience of public funding applications.In June 2022, the Department for Education and the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport co-published a refreshed National Plan for Music Education, which sets out our vision to enable all children and young people across the country to learn to sing, play an instrument and create music, and have the opportunity to progress their musical interests and talents. As part of the plan, the Government announced a new investment of £25 million of capital funding to enable the purchase of musical instruments and technology, including adaptive instruments. The Department for Education also confirmed they will continue to invest £79 million per year for the Music Hubs programme over three years up to and including 2024/25, so that music hubs can continue to provide vital support to local schools.This Government’s investment in arts and culture remains a key part of its levelling up work.

Mobile Broadband

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans her Department has to support the transition from 2G to 3G networks.

Julia Lopez: In December 2021, DCMS published a Joint Statement with the UK’s mobile network operators (MNOs) confirming that all 2G and 3G networks would be switched off by 2033 at the latest. We welcome that some individual operators will switch off these networks, particularly 3G networks, earlier than this date. Each MNO is moving at its own pace within this timeframe and since this statement was published a number of operators have announced individual plans for 3G switch off.We are committed to extending good quality mobile coverage across the UK. In March 2020, the government announced a deal with the MNOs to increase 4G coverage to 95% of the UK landmass.In 2017, the government also set an ambition for the majority of the UK population to have access to 5G by 2027. This has been met five years early, with basic “non-standalone” 5G - which uses 5G equipment on 4G infrastructure. In our forthcoming Wireless Infrastructure Strategy, we will establish a new ambition for 5G. We will also set out how we will continue to drive 5G deployment across the UK and ensure that UK businesses reap the full benefits of 5G.There is no explicit regulatory requirement for MNOs to maintain a 2G or 3G network and the government has limited powers to compel operators to maintain, switch off or streamline specific networks. It is for operators to take final decisions on the provision of network services.MNOs will contact customers to let them know if they are affected and what steps they need to take prior to the switch off of these networks. DCMS officials are working closely with relevant government departments and Ofcom to support this transition away from 2G and 3G networks. The Government welcomes 2G and 3G networks being switched off in a responsible way, and will continue to work with MNOs to ensure a smooth transition that meets the needs of business users and consumers.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for May 2022, for the accommodation of which individuals was £1,193.42 paid to the Hilton Back Bay Boston on 19 May 2022, and what was the purpose of that visit.

Julia Lopez: In May 2022, officials from the Centre for Data Ethics and Innovation (CDEI) were invited to speak at the Privacy-Enhancing Technology Summit in Boston, USA. The purpose of the trip was to support the CDEI's work programme on Responsible Data Access, including the delivery of the UK-US Privacy-Enhancing Technologies prize challenges. In line with departmental policy, value for money was assessed prior to confirming the visit and the Government Procurement Card was utilised to accommodate individuals during an official visit.In accordance with the Data Protection Act, the Department will not disclose the names of the individual officials.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card for September 2022, what item her Department purchased from Click Netherfield Ltd. on 1 September 2021, and for what purpose that item is used by her Department.

Julia Lopez: In September 2021, the Department hired a glass vitrine to display a ceramic cockerel in the Scottish Parliament building during the Edinburgh International Culture Summit. The ceramic was a gift from Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Boris Johnson during a visit to Ukraine.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what their Department spent in 2021 on purchasing goods and services with a value of less than £500 on a government procurement card.

Julia Lopez: The Department utilises Government Procurement Cards to purchase low-value goods and services as an efficient method of payment. In 2021, the Department spent £67,757.40 on goods and services, with a value of less than £500, using a Government Procurement Card. The majority of purchases using a Government Procurement Card, based on the total value of spend, are above £500 and published to GOV.UK on a monthly basis as part of the Department’s commitment to transparency.

Television: Disability Aids

Gill Furniss: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she plans to take steps to require all broadcast television to be fully subtitled.

Julia Lopez: The Government recognises the importance of subtitling and supports television being accessible to all. Under the Communications Act 2003 and Broadcasting Acts of 1990 and 1996, broadcasters are already required to meet targets for access services - including subtitling. Statutory targets are set by Ofcom which include five and ten year targets for licensed television services. Ofcom’s Code on Television Access Services sets out these obligations and provides guidance and best practice on subtitling for broadcasters.

Broadband

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact on (a) consumers and (b) competition of telecoms providers which advertise FTTC connections as fibre broadband.

Julia Lopez: The Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) is committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity. Our approach to achieving this is to make it as attractive as possible for companies to build gigabit-capable networks in the UK by creating a regulatory environment that encourages competition and investment between firms. Our strategy also includes promoting the take up of fibre broadband to ensure consumers can maximise its benefits. Gigabit-capable broadband will offer consumers a faster and more reliable connection.DCMS recognises the decisions of both the Advertising Standards Authority and the High Court of Justice on the issue of fibre advertisement. In 2017, the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), the UK's regulator of advertising, reviewed consumer understanding of the term ‘fibre’ as used in broadband advertising (particularly for part-fibre services such as Fibre to the Cabinet) and any impact the use of this term has on consumers’ transactional decisions. The ASA engaged with stakeholders and received a range of responses from providers of part-fibre and full-fibre broadband services, consumer organisations and other regulators.The ASA published their findings in November 2017 and concluded by stating the following:“It is not possible to conclude that the word ‘fibre’, as currently used in part-fibre advertising, is likely to mislead and misinform consumers.”The findings also demonstrated that the word ‘fibre’ appeared to be relatively unimportant when participants interpreted broadband advertising. In addition, the report found that it generally did not trigger the start of a purchase journey for consumers.Both the ASA and Ofcom are independent regulators and matters relating to industry rules on advertising is a matter for their discretion.

Broadband: Housing

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to ensure new-build homes come with gigabit-speed broadband.

Julia Lopez: We are committed to delivering nationwide gigabit connectivity as soon as possible, and it is a priority to ensure that new homes are built with fast, reliable and resilient broadband.We laid The Building etc. (Amendment) (England) (No. 2) Regulations 2022 in Parliament on 26 September 2022. This statutory instrument amends Building Regulations to ensure that the construction of new homes in England includes the installation of gigabit-ready infrastructure, and the installation of gigabit-capable connections where this can be provided within a cost cap of £2,000 per dwelling.The new requirements come into force on 26 December 2022, and will help to ensure that new homes are future-proofed and have access to Gigabit broadband at the point of construction, giving more people the connectivity they want and need without costly and disruptive installation work after the home is built.Where a gigabit capable connection is not available without breaching the cost cap, the next fastest connection available within the cost cap must be installed. The cost cap does not apply to the requirement for developers to install gigabit-ready infrastructure, which must be installed to ensure that the new homes are future-proofed.We are working with the Devolved Administrations to ensure consistency across the UK, as far as possible.

Telecommunications: Road Works

Stephanie Peacock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what recent assessment the Government has made of the potential merits of introducing flexi permits which allow telecoms operators to carry out multiple works over multiple streets for a specified time.

Julia Lopez: The Department for Transport consulted twice on proposals for a flexi permit in autumn 2021 and February 2022. The proposals would have allowed one permit to cover a number of works over a period of time across a specific area. The proposals were strongly opposed by highway authorities. The Government published a response to the consultation in May 2022 which announced that the government had decided not to proceed with the proposal for flexi permits at that time. However, the government did say that it would continue to work with the street works sector to develop further the concept and provide more evidence. So far, trials have taken place in Sheffield, Bexley, Essex and Lancashire, on a voluntary basis by organisations in the sector.Work is now underway to launch longer, more extensive trials - testing out different scenarios and in different areas than those that have happened to date. The trials seek to determine if potential benefits outweigh any drawbacks when flexi permits are used in conditions closer to real life - examining effects on congestion and reinstatement performance, for example. My officials are currently working with counterparts in the Department for Transport, a number of local authorities and telecoms operators to bring forward more trials in the new year.

Mobile Roaming (European Communities) Regulations 2007

Stella Creasy: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the Retained EU Law Bill, what plans he has to (a) retain, (b) revoke or (c) replace the Mobile Roaming (European Communities) Regulations 2007.

Julia Lopez: The Mobile Roaming (European Communities) Regulations 2007 are scheduled to be revoked by The Trade (Mobile Roaming) Regulations 2023, which were presented for laying before parliament on 15 December 2022.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to her Department’s publication of spending over £500 with an electronic purchasing card, for the accommodation of which individuals was (a) £1,688.99 paid to Meruorah Komodo on 8 July 2022, and (b) £3,426.84 paid to TheMulia.Com on 24-25 August 2022; and what was the purpose of each of those visits.

Julia Lopez: The Department represents the UK in delivering its international digital and technology objectives within a number of multilateral forums.As part of the Indonesian G20 Presidency, Department officials attended the third and fourth Digital Economy Working Group in July and August 2022. G20 venues were designated by the Indonesian G20 Presidency for all Digital Economy Working Group meetings and the Ministerial Meeting - with the expectation that all delegations stayed in the same hotel where the G20 meetings took place. The purpose of this spend was therefore to pay for the accommodation of officials negotiating on behalf of the UK during the third G20 Digital Economy Working Group meetings in July 2022 and the fourth G20 Digital Economy Working Group meeting in August 2022, leading into the G20 Digital Ministerial.In accordance with the Data Protection Act, the Department will not disclose the names of the individual officials.

Mobile Broadband: Research

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to the press release published 13 December 2022 on 5G and 6G technology, what the criteria were that her Department used to allocate £28 million to the three universities for 5G and 6G R&amp;D.

Julia Lopez: DCMS ran a fair and open competition published through GOV.UK - Five consortia submitted bids - with the three highest scoring bids selected for funding. DCMS assessed bids against questions relating to:Vision and ApproachOrganisation(s) Suitability and ManagementOutcomes, Engagement and BenefitsDelivery PlanFinancial and CommercialFull guidance is available here.

Tickets: Sales

Afzal Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of prohibiting the sale of tickets for events at a sum greater than their face value.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to cracking down on unacceptable behaviour in the ticketing market and improving people’s chances of buying tickets at a reasonable price. That is why we have strengthened the law on ticketing information requirements and introduced a criminal offence of using automated software to buy more tickets online than allowed. Ticketing sites can help fans buy and resell tickets, but they must comply with the law and should never be used as a platform for breaking it.Enforcement agencies such as the Competition and Markets Authority, National Trading Standards and the advertising industry's own regulator, the Advertising Standards Authority, have a track record of investigating breaches of consumer law and improving transparency in the ticketing market, and are prepared to go after those who flout the law or abuse the ticketing market. The recent conviction of ticket touts for the unlawful mass reselling of Ed Sheeran tickets at inflated prices and obtained by fraudulent means, is just one example.We do not believe that price capping is an appropriate solution at this time, as experience in other markets has shown that it would not be an effective tool to address the problem at hand, and would present significant practical challenges in implementation and enforcement. Individuals are able to seek advice or report problems with goods or services bought from a trader based in the UK, and the appropriate advice agency is the Citizens Advice Consumer Service.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Electronic Purchasing Card Solution

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to her Department’s publication of electronic purchasing card spending over £500 for April 2021 to March 2022, what items or services were purchased from Coywood Computers for £1,478.99 on 10 February 2022; and or what reason that purchase was made using the Klarna payment service.

Julia Lopez: In February 2022, the Department sourced 50 x HP laptop chargers from Coywood Computers for the IT service desk. The stock was required to replenish business as usual (BAU) stock to support the business with increased demand for temporary/loan chargers, whilst working in the office, and replacements for faulty chargers.The online retailer was selected based on stock availability, at a time when technology demands were significantly higher in the Department and our regular supply chain faced long lead-times for sourcing products.The purchase was made directly through the retailer's website and the goods were fully paid at the point of purchase, with no additional transaction fees.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport: Carbon Emissions

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, by what date they expect their Department to be carbon neutral in its day to day operations.

Julia Lopez: The Government is committed to delivering Net Zero by 2050.The Government reduced its greenhouse gas emissions by 50% in 2019-20 compared to a 2009-10 baseline, exceeding its target of 43%.The Greening Government Commitments set out the actions that UK government departments and their agencies will take to reduce their impacts on the environment, including targets for departmental reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, with current targets for the period 2021-25. The Department is committed to reducing its greenhouse gas emissions wherever possible, and has ambitious targets under the Greening Government Commitments.

5G

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many 5G masts have been installed on residential properties in each of the last two years.

Sarah Olney: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, how many 5G masts have been installed in each region in the last two years.

Julia Lopez: 5G network rollout and the management of masts, mobile sites and network infrastructure is a matter for the mobile network operators (MNOs), and this information is not held by the government.However, local authorities must grant planning permission for building masts and therefore some local authorities keep mast site registers which may contain installation information.When deploying masts, the MNOs will consider consumer demand and how any mobile site fits with their network deployment plans.

5G

Nick Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the economic impact of the rollout of standalone 5G (a) in Blaenau Gwent constituency and (b) nationally.

Julia Lopez: In 2017, the government set an ambition for the majority of the UK population to have access to 5G by 2027. This has been met five years early, with basic “non-standalone” 5G - which uses 5G equipment on 4G infrastructure.We expect the Mobile Network Operators to begin deploying Standalone 5G in 2023. This next phase of investment will help unlock the full potential of 5G as a foundational technology for the knowledge-based economy, to support uses in industrial and innovation in the provision of public services, bringing both significant economic and societal benefits to the UK.We are developing a Wireless Infrastructure Strategy which will establish a new ambition for 5G rollout, and set out how the UK can realise the full socioeconomic benefits of advanced wireless connectivity. We aim to publish the strategy early next year.

Cricket

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will take steps to help (a) support village cricket clubs and (b) increase the number of people playing cricket in England.

Stuart Andrew: Supporting grassroots sport is a key government priority. DCMS is working alongside Sport England in order to support their ten year strategy to drive up participation rates across all sports, including cricket.Sport England has invested more than £23 million into cricket over the last five years, including more than £3.9 million to support grassroots clubs through the immediate challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic. In North East Hampshire, Stratfield Turgis & Hartley Wespall Cricket Club received £20,000 in 2018 as part of the Community Asset Fund and £3,600 through the ‘Return to Play Fund’ last summer, to support adaptations for the return of cricket post-pandemic.Sport England funding to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) focuses on tackling the inequalities which exist within the game, such as expanding the talent pathway for the women’s and girls game, increasing opportunities for disabled children and supporting governance reform and inclusive leadership support across the County Network.

Youth Services

Kate Kniveton: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to support (a) the Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services and (b) other voluntary organisations with providing (i) training and (ii) other development opportunities for young people.

Stuart Andrew: Local Authorities have a statutory duty to allocate funding to youth services in line with local need. This is funded from the Local Government settlement, which was over £12 billion last year. DCMS officials are currently reviewing the statutory duty and its associated guidance to assess its effectiveness after a call for responses from key youth stakeholders. We will publish the outcomes of the review in due course.The Government recognises the vital role that youth services and activities, including of the type supported by the Staffordshire Council of Voluntary Youth Services, play in improving the life chances and wellbeing of young people. The Government has committed to a National Youth Guarantee: that by 2025 every young person will have access to regular clubs and activities, adventures away from home and volunteering opportunities. This is supported by a three year £560 million investment in youth services, reflecting young people's priorities and addressing the inconsistencies in regional youth spending, with a firm focus on levelling up, including the £368 million Youth Investment Fund, for which over 20 wards in Staffordshire are eligible to apply.To support the youth sector workforce, DCMS funds the National Youth Agency to set professional standards, qualifications and a curriculum for youth work, including a new youth work apprenticeship and free-to-access training, all of which are available to young people. DCMS has delivered a Youth Worker Bursary Fund with the NYA since 2019, distributing approximately £1.9 million facilitating over 1,700 individuals who would otherwise be unable to afford it to undertake training in Level 2 and 3 Youth Work qualifications. A further £1 million has been committed for FY 22/23.Additionally, through the £7.4 million Volunteering Futures Fund, DCMS has created thousands more volunteering opportunities to improve accessibility of volunteering in the arts, culture, sports, civil society, youth and heritage sectors. The fund is helping a diverse range of people to access the benefits volunteering can bring. There is a strong focus on young people, those experiencing loneliness, those with disabilities and those from ethnic minority backgrounds.From 2023 onwards, the reformed NCS programme will offer a year-round choice of opportunities to young people, with a focus on skill development and volunteering. NCS will work with and fund a range of partners, including grassroots volunteering organisations, to deliver the programme across the country.

Sport Winter Survival Package

James Wild: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, pursuant to the Answer of 23 November 2022 to Question 87999, if he will provide a breakdown listing (a) the 15 sports that received loans and (b) the total number of loans allocated to each.

Stuart Andrew: The Sport Survival Package distributed a total of £264.8 million funding (loan and grant funding) across 15 sports to ensure their survival throughout the pandemic.The number of loans issued to sports and their organisations is as follows: one loan was issued to athletics, 10 loans were issued to basketball, 35 loans were issued to football, one loan was issued to horse racing, five loans were issued to ice hockey, five loans were issued to motorsport, five loans were issued to netball, one loan was issued for non-ticketed events, 27 loans were issued to rugby league, 103 loans were issued to rugby union and one loan was issued to tennis.

Cricket: Bullying and Discrimination

Navendu Mishra: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment her Department has made of the effectiveness of the Cricket Discipline Commission at tackling discrimination, bullying, racism and sexism in cricket in (a) England and (b) Wales.

Stuart Andrew: The work of the Cricket Discipline Commission is a matter for the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB). The Government has no role in scrutinising its work.We will continue to directly hold the ECB to account on cultural change in the sport, particularly around racism, and reserve the right to take further measures if progress is not made.

Attorney General

Sexual Offences: Victims

Alex Sobel: To ask the Attorney General, whether she plans to bring forward legislative proposals to only allow the (a) police and (b) Crown Prosecution Service to request scrutiny of counselling records of sexual violence and abuse survivors that relate to a specific offence.

Michael Tomlinson: The revised Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidelines published in May 2022 introduced increased privacy protections for victims in respect of their counselling notes being accessed during the course of a criminal investigation. Prior written reasons must be recorded before accessing counselling notes of victims, and access can only occur where it is necessary and proportionate The CPS guidance on pre-trial therapy for prosecutors and investigators is clear that prior to approaching a therapist about material relating to the victim that might be relevant to the investigation, the police should seek the agreement of the victim to this approach being made and inform the victim of their right to object at any time to the processing of their personal data which may follow. The Home Office has also recently concluded a consultation on police requests for personal records (‘third party material’). The response to this consultation and next steps will be published shortly.

Sexual Offences: Victims

Alex Sobel: To ask the Attorney General, whether it is his Department's policy that a victim of sexual assault undertaking (a) police-provided and (b) private counselling is made aware that they can retract any information provided from session notes.

Michael Tomlinson: The revised Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidelines published in May 2022 introduced increased privacy protections for victims in respect of their counselling notes being accessed during the course of a criminal investigation. Prior written reasons must be recorded before accessing counselling notes of victims, and access can only occur where it is necessary and proportionate. Simultaneously with the amended Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidance the CPS published guidance on pre-trial therapy for prosecutors and investigators. The CPS Guidance is clear that prior to approaching a therapist about material relating to the victim that might be relevant to the investigation, the police should seek the agreement of the victim to this approach being made and inform the victim of their right to object at any time to the processing of their personal data which may follow.

Sexual Offences: Disclosure of Information

Alex Sobel: To ask the Attorney General, with reference to her Department's policy on allowing the police and Crown Prosecution Service to scrutinise counselling records of victims of sexual violence, if she will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a (a) presumption of non-disclosure and (b) requirement that requests for notes could only be made once a suspect had been arrested and charged.

Michael Tomlinson: The requirement to disclose material which might reasonably be considered capable of undermining the case for the prosecution against the accused or of assisting the case for the accused is set by legislation, and not by the Disclosure Guidelines. The revised Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidelines published in May 2022 introduced increased privacy protections for victims in respect of their counselling notes being accessed during the course of a criminal investigation. Prior written reasons must be recorded before accessing counselling notes of victims, and access can only occur where it is necessary and proportionate. The Home Office has also recently concluded a consultation on police requests for personal records (‘third party material’). The response to this consultation and next steps will be published shortly.

Sexual Offences: Victims

Alex Sobel: To ask the Attorney General, if her Department will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of the scrutiny of counselling records of sexual violence and abuse survivors by the police and Crown Prosecution Service on (a) the reporting of crimes and (b) the uptake of counselling services by those survivors.

Michael Tomlinson: The recent review of Disclosure found that too much third-party material, including victims counselling and therapy notes, were being accessed. The review heard from victims’ groups that this leads to victims facing an impossible decision to either seek justice or seek therapy The revised Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidelines published in May 2022 addressed this and introduced increased privacy protections for victims. Prior written reasons must be recorded before accessing this material, and access can only occur where it is necessary and proportionate.In alignment and simultaneously with the amended Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidance the CPS published guidance on pre-trial therapy for prosecutors and investigators. The guidance opens with the clear and definitive principles that: The health and wellbeing of the victim should always be the determinative factor in whether, when and with whom they seek pre-trial therapy. It is for the victim to make decisions about therapy with their therapist, including what type of therapy is obtained and when that therapy is obtained.

Sexual Offences: Disclosure of Information

Alex Sobel: To ask the Attorney General, what steps she is taking to protect the privacy rights of victims of sexual offence cases in a court of law by ensuring the non-disclosure of their counselling records.

Michael Tomlinson: The recent review of Disclosure found that too much third-party material, including victims counselling and therapy notes, were being accessed. The revised Attorney General’s Disclosure Guidelines published in May 2022 addressed this and introduced increased privacy protections for victims. Prior written reasons must be recorded before accessing this material, and access can only occur where it is necessary and proportionate. Pre-trial therapy notes will now only be accessed in the rare circumstances that they are absolutely necessary to a reasonable line of inquiry. This ensures significant protections for victims while maintaining a fair trial.